Published November 2001

Tenants and landlords need to know renting rules

Frequently, it seems, first-time real estate investors — and sometimes more experienced ones who should know better — are surprised to learn that landlords have just as many rules to comply with in a residential rental property arrangement as tenants. Sadly, too many find out the hard way that there’s much more to do than just turning over the keys and collecting rent each month.

The two primary laws that govern landlord behavior are the Residential Landlord/Tenant Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act. The former, often referred to as the L/T Act, is state law that is fairly uniform from state to state.

In Washington, the L/T Act became law in 1973. It has been revised a time or two, but the bulk of it is unchanged. It’s quite straightforward. Without a copy of one in her hand, a landlord likely would follow the major provisions simply to stay competitive in the rental marketplace today.

Where landlords often get tripped up is with the Federal Fair Housing Act. This is a federal law that identifies tenants as being in “protected classes” such as color, religion, national origin, familial status, disabled status, etc. Certain local jurisdictions, most notably Seattle in our state, have other protected class overlays such as marital status.

Most landlords assume that discrimination based on color is the Fair Housing violation that would receive the most complaints from renters. A close second would be discrimination against renters born in foreign countries (national origin).

But both guesses would be wrong. The Human Rights Commission, which is the body that administrates and investigates Fair Housing complaints against landlords, claims that approximately 80 percent of complaints come from renters with children. “Familial status” is the technically accurate name for this group.

Landlords feel a sort of attachment — almost like that of a parent to a child — to their hard-won investment and occasionally make the mistake of trying to parent their property and the people in it.

Most do not have the intention of being discriminatory, but their behavior can be interpreted by a denied applicant or existing renter of being just that. Too many landlords make judgments about how other people are supposed to live “under my roof.” It’s a slippery slope for many and the reason some get into trouble.

The Washington Landlord/Tenant Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act are good for the industry, though. Gone are the horror stories of landlords pulling the front door off of the rental unit to freeze the tenant out when rent went unpaid.

Conversely, tenants can’t get away with non-payment for months and months and eat a huge hole in a landlord’s wallet.

For both parties, it’s important to remember there are rules of the game for owing and renting an apartment, and you shouldn’t walk onto the field unless you know them.

Tom Hoban is CEO of Everett-based Coast Real Estate Services, a property management and real estate advisory company specializing in multi-family and commercial investment properties. He can be contacted by phone at 425-339-3638 or send e-mail to tomhoban@coastmgt.com.

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