Can your landlord renovate your apartment while you’re under lease? What WA state law says

Can your landlord renovate your house or apartment while you’re under lease? What if the renovations require you to move out?

Last week, a thread made its way around Bellingham’s Reddit page, asking just that question. While certain cities might make slight changes to the laws regulating what landlords can and can’t do, here’s what state law has to say.

Can your landlord renovate while you’re under lease?

State law only allows a landlord to end a lease in certain situations , none of which include construction or renovation.

So a landlord can’t terminate your fixed-term lease, which is a binding contract that states the landlord will provide you housing for a certain amount of time, in order to renovate, but what about month-to-month tenancies ?

According to RCW 59.18.200 , a landlord can require a month-to-month tenant to move out “whenever a landlord plans to demolish or substantially rehabilitate premises or plans a change of use of premises.” However, in order to do so, they have to provide the tenants with clear written notice 120 days in advance of when they would have to move.

Relocation assistance in WA

If your case meets all of those criteria and your landlord goes ahead with their renovation plans, they could be required to pay some of your relocation fees..

According to RCW 59.18.440 , a city can require that landlords must pay “their portion of reasonable relocation assistance” to low-income tenants if they demolish or renovate the unit. However, this only applies to cities in counties that have a population over 50,000 and have seen their population grow by at least 17% in the previous ten years.

However, just because the state authorizes a city to include this requirement, doesn’t mean it has to.

Can a WA tenant get evicted for refusing to leave?

If you’re a month-to-month tenant landlord provides proper notice of the planned renovations, can they evict you for refusing to move out? Under state law , a landlord is allowed to start eviction proceedings if a tenant “continues in possession of the premises after the landlord serves the tenant with advance written notice” that meets the requirements of the RCW 59.18.200 – the law that requires 120 day notice for renovations.