Month-to-Month Renters Face Evictions in Tight Housing Market
WEST RICHLAND, Wash. -- Some landlords are kicking renters out of their apartments and duplexes, with just three weeks notice, because the Tri-Cities housing market is so competitive. And the process is all legal.
It's yet another way renters are getting hit hard by the apartment shortage. Just this week, Action News showed you how the Tri-Cities had the highest hikes in average rental rates in the whole state.
Tim Pyle spent seven years in a Richland duplex on Thayer. He said he was loyal and problem-free and eventually rented month to month. One day last spring, without warning, Pyle said his landlord sent him packing.
"This is a notification of tenancy for the address noted above," he said, reading right from the tenancy notice.
The sudden notice left Pyle feeling blind-sided.
"It left us with such a burden."
His only explanation, he said, was that the landlord could get more money from someone who signed a long-term lease. "I was very upset."
Tim and his wife Nina had 20 days to find a new place to live in a market where rental occupancy rates have been in the 99 percent range for months.
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Action News talked to several local realty companies who said they see this trend all the time.
Even if a quick eviction is burdensome, it's not illegal. Attorney Tonya Meehan-Corsi said Pyle's landlord did nothing wrong.
"You don't really have a lot of rights as to whether they want to get rid of you or not on a month-to-month," she explained.
Plus, the landlord doesn't have to give a reason to end the lease.
"There's no cause required. They just have to give you the 20 days and then you have to move out," she continued.
Looking back, Pyle told KEPR he would have signed a year-long had his landlord approached him. He was even willing to pay more in rent to avoid the short-notice move in a tight housing market.
Pyle hopes his experience will help you. "Maybe negotiate on a new contract so no surprises can come up and blind-side them like it did me."
Depending on where you live, the landlord can you give you a 20 or 30 day notice. If you're on a year-long lease, once the year is up, the contract will automatically turn into a month-to-month unless you talk to your landlord to sign a new lease.
It's yet another way renters are getting hit hard by the apartment shortage. Just this week, Action News showed you how the Tri-Cities had the highest hikes in average rental rates in the whole state.
Tim Pyle spent seven years in a Richland duplex on Thayer. He said he was loyal and problem-free and eventually rented month to month. One day last spring, without warning, Pyle said his landlord sent him packing.
"This is a notification of tenancy for the address noted above," he said, reading right from the tenancy notice.
The sudden notice left Pyle feeling blind-sided.
"It left us with such a burden."
His only explanation, he said, was that the landlord could get more money from someone who signed a long-term lease. "I was very upset."
Tim and his wife Nina had 20 days to find a new place to live in a market where rental occupancy rates have been in the 99 percent range for months.
.
Action News talked to several local realty companies who said they see this trend all the time.
Even if a quick eviction is burdensome, it's not illegal. Attorney Tonya Meehan-Corsi said Pyle's landlord did nothing wrong.
"You don't really have a lot of rights as to whether they want to get rid of you or not on a month-to-month," she explained.
Plus, the landlord doesn't have to give a reason to end the lease.
"There's no cause required. They just have to give you the 20 days and then you have to move out," she continued.
Looking back, Pyle told KEPR he would have signed a year-long had his landlord approached him. He was even willing to pay more in rent to avoid the short-notice move in a tight housing market.
Pyle hopes his experience will help you. "Maybe negotiate on a new contract so no surprises can come up and blind-side them like it did me."
Depending on where you live, the landlord can you give you a 20 or 30 day notice. If you're on a year-long lease, once the year is up, the contract will automatically turn into a month-to-month unless you talk to your landlord to sign a new lease.
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