Does sale of property in Seattle negate explicit option to renew lease?
July 5, 2018 12:09 PM Subscribe
Seattle-based lease says that tenant can renew at same rate when lease ends, but property was sold just before. Is the new owner beholden to this agreement?
My friend signed a one year lease about a year ago. The lease states: "Tenant shall have the option at their sole discretion to sign one additional 12 month lease beginning 7/29/18 at the same rate of $1,750 per month". Cue to a few weeks before she had a chance to re-sign and the owner sold the place and, of course, the new owner is looking to raise their rent. Is this kosher? If not, is there anything on the web I can point her to that would help buttress her discussions with him? She mentioned the clause to the new owner and (from what I understand) his response was essentially, "Do you know how much I paid for this place?", which ... yeah. Any input appreciated; neither her nor her roommate would qualify as low-income (in general, though I suppose maybe in Seattle?), for what it's worth. Thanks!
My friend signed a one year lease about a year ago. The lease states: "Tenant shall have the option at their sole discretion to sign one additional 12 month lease beginning 7/29/18 at the same rate of $1,750 per month". Cue to a few weeks before she had a chance to re-sign and the owner sold the place and, of course, the new owner is looking to raise their rent. Is this kosher? If not, is there anything on the web I can point her to that would help buttress her discussions with him? She mentioned the clause to the new owner and (from what I understand) his response was essentially, "Do you know how much I paid for this place?", which ... yeah. Any input appreciated; neither her nor her roommate would qualify as low-income (in general, though I suppose maybe in Seattle?), for what it's worth. Thanks!
"Do you know how much I paid for this place?", which ... yeah.
This is definitely absolutely not official advice, but I was in a similar situation here in Chicago when my building got sold last year. New guy pulled one of these on me.
Fun fact, though, these documents are public record. I don't know what Seattle's online searchable situation is, but here in Cook County you can look up deed transfer and mortgage documents for the property from the recorder's office, as well as finding the assessed tax value from the county assessor's office. You can put those together and with a bit of math and room for insurance, figure pretty close to how much the new owner paid for this place.
So when my new landlord jacked the rent up on me 10% when I went to re-sign and I said absolutely not, and he responded with essentially do you know how much I paid for this place, I could say as a matter of fact yes I do, I looked your shit up, do not fuck with me asshole, and he dropped it considerably.
Arm yourself with as much info as possible. (Which will hopefully include market trends and local tenant laws.)
posted by phunniemee at 12:22 PM on July 5, 2018
This is definitely absolutely not official advice, but I was in a similar situation here in Chicago when my building got sold last year. New guy pulled one of these on me.
Fun fact, though, these documents are public record. I don't know what Seattle's online searchable situation is, but here in Cook County you can look up deed transfer and mortgage documents for the property from the recorder's office, as well as finding the assessed tax value from the county assessor's office. You can put those together and with a bit of math and room for insurance, figure pretty close to how much the new owner paid for this place.
So when my new landlord jacked the rent up on me 10% when I went to re-sign and I said absolutely not, and he responded with essentially do you know how much I paid for this place, I could say as a matter of fact yes I do, I looked your shit up, do not fuck with me asshole, and he dropped it considerably.
Arm yourself with as much info as possible. (Which will hopefully include market trends and local tenant laws.)
posted by phunniemee at 12:22 PM on July 5, 2018
Seattle law seems pretty clear to me. From this city-developed fact sheet:
posted by muddgirl at 12:26 PM on July 5, 2018 [3 favorites]
MAKING CHANGES TO A FIXED LEASE TERMWhen your new landlord bought the unit, they knew your friend was a tenant and they had a right to inspect your lease agreement. If they disagreed with the terms of the lease, they should not have bought an occupied unit.
Under a lease, in most cases, changes during the lease term cannot be made unless both landlord and
tenant agree to the proposed change.
If the property is sold. The sale of the property does not automatically end a tenancy.
posted by muddgirl at 12:26 PM on July 5, 2018 [3 favorites]
What happens to my lease if the ownership of the property changes?posted by grouse at 12:26 PM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
The lease, as well as your security deposit and all other money held by the landlord, should be passed to the new landlord. RCW 59.18.060 requires that the tenant shall be immediately notified in writing of any changes to the landlord either by personal service, or conspicuously posted and sent first class mail. No terms of the lease can be changed except by mutual agreement, and the lease must be honored through the entire term unless the property is foreclosed on during the lease term, and the new purchaser wishes to occupy the home as their primary residence. RCW 59.18.270 dictates the terms of the deposit changeover.
IAAL, IANyour or your friend's L.
The general rule is that if somebody buys a property while there's a lease in force, and they know the lease was there, the new owner takes "subject" to the lease. They get the rights that the old owner/landlord had (like collecting rent), but they also accept all the concessions that the old owner/landlord gave (like a tenant option to renew at a below-market rate).
There are refinements to this, and ways to vary things, but from a tenant perspective, that's the general idea. So check the lease for anything that explains what happens if the property is sold. Find out whether the new landlord has accepted rent under the existing lease, which would argue that he accepted the other terms of the existing lease. You should also google for stuff like "new owner existing lease", which will give more context.
But the best advice I can give is to talk to the local tenant's union. In addition to giving you the local down-low (can you pull deeds for free in that locality like phunniemee suggests? what is local law about lease increases?), the new owner sounds like a real fucking toolbag who is willing to bully people to get what he wants. Your friend may want to be ready with, at a minimum, very specific and clear knowledge about local law. I'd also ask for recommendations for good tenant attorneys, if she has the means to pay even a couple hundred bucks for an initial consult and a potential nastygram to the new landlord.
(She should also think about whether this guy is likely to escalate to try and turf her out if she decides to press her rights.)
posted by joyceanmachine at 12:31 PM on July 5, 2018 [3 favorites]
The general rule is that if somebody buys a property while there's a lease in force, and they know the lease was there, the new owner takes "subject" to the lease. They get the rights that the old owner/landlord had (like collecting rent), but they also accept all the concessions that the old owner/landlord gave (like a tenant option to renew at a below-market rate).
There are refinements to this, and ways to vary things, but from a tenant perspective, that's the general idea. So check the lease for anything that explains what happens if the property is sold. Find out whether the new landlord has accepted rent under the existing lease, which would argue that he accepted the other terms of the existing lease. You should also google for stuff like "new owner existing lease", which will give more context.
But the best advice I can give is to talk to the local tenant's union. In addition to giving you the local down-low (can you pull deeds for free in that locality like phunniemee suggests? what is local law about lease increases?), the new owner sounds like a real fucking toolbag who is willing to bully people to get what he wants. Your friend may want to be ready with, at a minimum, very specific and clear knowledge about local law. I'd also ask for recommendations for good tenant attorneys, if she has the means to pay even a couple hundred bucks for an initial consult and a potential nastygram to the new landlord.
(She should also think about whether this guy is likely to escalate to try and turf her out if she decides to press her rights.)
posted by joyceanmachine at 12:31 PM on July 5, 2018 [3 favorites]
If and when you get your case favorably settled, then and only then post an anonymous notice all over the building so that the other tenants will know their rights too.
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:34 PM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by JimN2TAW at 12:34 PM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]
She mentioned the clause to the new owner and (from what I understand) his response was essentially, "Do you know how much I paid for this place?"
By the way, any such whining should be met with "you bought the place knowing full well what the rent roll looked like. The math is on you."
posted by praemunire at 5:12 PM on July 5, 2018 [6 favorites]
By the way, any such whining should be met with "you bought the place knowing full well what the rent roll looked like. The math is on you."
posted by praemunire at 5:12 PM on July 5, 2018 [6 favorites]
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I'm no lawyer, but this might be appropriate, on changing an aspect of a lease during its term without mutual agreement. (That their response was "Do you know how much I paid?" suggests they aren't exactly proactive on hewing to law)
Worth checking above-and-beyond-that, did they give sufficient notice for the rent increase? It's 60 days notice for any 10%+ bump, so even if they might've been able to strike that clause somehow, they might have to rescind the increase anyways.
posted by CrystalDave at 12:20 PM on July 5, 2018 [1 favorite]