Scott E. Feir

Property Manager Survival Guide to Preparing Default Notices

IV. Additional Requirements for Certain Notices

A. Notices for Rent

A landlord is required to provide a good faith statement of the amount of rent due. Merely stating that the tenant is in default of rent payments without stating the amount due may (will likely) render the notice defective. See Byrkett v. Gardner, 35 Wn. 668 (1904); Metcalfe, 161 Wn. at 107.

A good faith statement of the amount due usually will be sufficient, even if it is later discovered the stated amount was incorrect. Foisy v. Wyman, 83 Wn.2d 22, 32-3, 515 P.2d 160, 167 (1973); Sowers, 49 Wn.2d at 891; Erz, 157 Wn. at 35 (notice only provided that the rent was delinquent in the amount of “a little over $800.00,” which was sufficient for notice purposes); Olson v. Alki, 63 Wn. 521, 523, 115 P. 1083, 1084 (1911) (notice was sufficient when it only provided the months for which rent was delinquent rather than computing the total amount of rent due). However, if the stated amount is wildly off the mark (especially if the amount is overstated) and the tenant is prejudiced by the landlord’s error, a court would likely dismiss the unlawful detainer action without prejudice. See Peck, supra, 31 WASH.L.REV. at 60.

B. Notices for Breach of Lease

Where the tenant has or is committing a non-rent breach of the lease, the notice must contain specific facts of instances where the tenant has breached the lease and set forth what the tenant must do to cure the breach. Byrkett v. Gardner, 35 Wn. 668, 674-5, 77 P. 1048, 1049 (1904) (stating that a general recital of the conditions and covenants of the lease, followed by a statement that the tenant is in breach, is not sufficient because it does not provide specifics about what the tenant must do to avoid forfeiture). General allegations will not suffice, but rather specific facts of how the tenant has failed to perform a condition or covenant of the lease will be required. Id.; See also Deming v. Jones, 173 Wn. 644, 647-49, 24 P.2d 85, 86 (1933) (where the court refused to find the tenant guilty of unlawful detainer because the lease breach was slight and technical, and noting the court abhors forfeiture under such circumstances).

C. Notices Requiring the Tenant Either Cure the Violation or Quit the Premises

The landlord must provide the alternative to either cure the violation or quit the premises in all notices based on violations of delinquent rent or lease breach. RCW 59.12.030. A failure to state the alternatives will render the notice defective. Terry, 90 Wn. App. at 565; Sullivan v. Purvis, 90 Wn. App. 456, 458, 966 P.2d 912, 914 (1998) (stating that a notice that fails to give the tenant the alternative of performing the covenant or surrendering the premises does not comply with the statutory requirements).

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