Can we force tenants to leave premises for a weekend?
Full Question:
Answer:
You state that your family's use of a duplex is seasonal (summertime, mostly weekends); therefore, I assume that the Chelan duplex is your family's vacation property, and is not your family's primary residence. However, you don't state what use the tenants make of their rental unit, that is, whether the tenants' dwelling unit is the tenants' seasonal or primary residence. Your question seems to indicate that the rental unit is the tenant's primary residence. The tenant's usage, whether permanent or seasonal, may well be determinative of the issue whether you as landlord may exclude one or more dates in 2010 from the renewal lease that is soon to be executed.
The Washington residential landlord-tenant act comprises Chapter 59.18 of the Revised Code of Washington (RCW), which is appended as a link in this response. The definition section of every statutory act is important; please see RCW 59.18.030, which is appended. As a general proposition, if the dwelling unit that you as landlord lease annually to the tenants is the tenants' primary residence, then RCW Chapter 59.18 and the Washington state case law interpreting that act may not allow a residential landlord to exclude any date or dates from the tenant's occupancy of the dwelling unit. As a corollary to that general proposition, if the tenant uses the dwelling unit on a seasonal basis only, then under Washington statutory and case law, a landlord may be able to exclude a particular weekend from a lease that is subject to RCW Chapter 59.18; however, a prudent landlord would do so only after consulting a licensed and experienced Washington real-estate lawyer. A link to US Legal's Washington real-estate lawyers appears at the end of this response.
