HELD: Security deposits are considered a tenant's personal property, and a tenant has three years to file a lawsuit for relief under RCW 59.18.280. The time clock starts the day after the landlord's deadline for providing the full, specific statement to the tenant.
In 2012, Silver rented a place in Spokane which Rudeen managed. Rent was $810/month, with $100 nonrefundable fee for carpet cleaning and a $300 security deposit. Silver provided notice and left the premises on or about June 30, 2015.
After Silver moved out, Rudeen first sent Silver a Preliminary Deposit Disposition, dated June 30, 2015, claiming that Silver owed $3,000 for excessive wear and tear to the premises. Rudeen sent a second document dated August 18, 2015, titled Final Deposit Disposition, showing Silver owed $2,281.35. Silver disputed the charges.
Two years and two months after moving out, Silver sued Rudeen, alleging that Rudeen violated RCW 59.18.280 of the Residential Landlord-Tenant Agreement (RLTA). Silver claimed:
- The Preliminary Deposit Disposition was not a full, specific statement.
- The Final Deposit Disposition was sent too late (more than 14 days after tenancy termination).
- Rudeen willfully and wrongfully withheld tenants' security deposits after tenancy termination.
****NOTE: At the time of Silver's tenancy, the statute only gave a landlord 14 days after termination of the agreement to provide the full, specific statement to the tenant. That was amended to 21 days in a 2016 revision, but since Silver's tenancy ended prior to the revision taking effect, the 14-day rule applied.
Silver sought relief that included full refund of the security deposit, two times the amount of the deposit under the statute, and reasonable attorney fees/costs.
Rudeen challenged the lawsuit and argued that Rudeen and all other plaintiffs were time-barred, citing a two-year catch-all statute of limitations under RCW 4.16.130. The trial court and appellate court sided with Rudeen, dismissing Silver's case with prejudice.
Silver appealed to the WA Supreme Court. Just like at the appellate level, he argued that the three-year statute of limitations applied for personal property under RCW 4.16.080(2).
The WA Supreme Court unanimously reversed, concluding that a security deposit is a tenant's personal property. Because personal property is included as a covered item in the three-year statute of limitations, that ended the inquiry. The two-year catch-all provision only applied when other sections did not cover it.
The case was remanded to the trial court to rule on Silver's claims.
****NOTE: The WA Supreme Court did not spend time ruling on whether Rudeen's "Deposit Dispositions" satisfied the statute's requirement of a "full, specific statement". They simply ruled that Silver could bring the case and potentially get relief.
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I also liked that Justice Montoya-Lewis included a history of why the RLTA was enacted. This further included covering the requirements needed to take a security deposit and a landlord's duties to account for the deposit.
Returning a security deposit to the tenant within a set time frame was to reasonably protect a tenant's interest in said deposit, especially protecting low-income tenants. Otherwise, a tenant would have to go to court to get the deposit back, and in the meantime, could be severely strapped for cash to even pay rent at a new place. The deposit could otherwise have helped pay bills or become the security deposit at the new rental unit. The legislature wanted the double damages clause to keep landlords accountable.
The RLTA is liberally construed in favor of the tenant to make for a more level playing field and prevent what likely used to happen prior to the act: Before 1973, a landlord's strong position of holding land and more resources (i.e. money) usually meant a tenant lost a lot.
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This is significant for landlord-tenant attorneys. Silver is more a breach of contract case than a true unlawful detainer filing, but may provide guidance on many issues beyond a security deposit. This decision could extend to other forms of personal property covered within the RLTA, including other types of deposits covered in a lease and personal possessions left behind in a unit.
