Forms Update Alert: 12-2024

Lease form revisions effective 12/06/2024:

A 2022 revision to RCW 59.18.063 that was not previously brought to our attention, requires that landlords only restrict the method of payment for nine months after receiving a check with non-sufficient funds. Our lease forms included language that restricted payment method for all future payments. Therefore, we revised the following sentence in all four versions of our residential lease form and also in the MHC Rental Agreement form as follows:

• Section 2, 5^th paragraph, 3^rd sentence: If Resident gives Owner a payment that is returned for non-payment, all future payments over the following nine months by Resident shall be made by cashier’s check, money order, or other payment method designated by Owner.

While this change was approved by our legal counsel, the entire lease was not reviewed at this time. Our annual lease and forms review is scheduled for May 2025 after the legislative session. Therefore, the review date on these forms remains 4/2024 even though the revision date has changed to 12/6/2024.

The new revised lease forms were available on our website as of 12/6/2024 to be updated in our digital lease signing package in Azibo the following week. Thank you to member and newly appointed regent Constance Nelson for bringing this issue to our attention!