Previously, Washington’s rental laws didn’t have much guidance on new cooling units. Slatter said that landlords could refuse to let a tenant install one. The new law, by contrast, states that renters can now install a portable AC unit, as long as a landlord hasn’t explicitly written a ban into the lease.
The law, which went into effect in June, includes specific restrictions depending on the kinds of AC units a tenant is looking to install. For a window unit, here are the restrictions:
- A tenant must give the landlord two days’ notice before installation.
- The device cannot prevent a window accessible from the outside to be locked.
- It cannot require excessive brackets that would damage the window frame warranty.
- The device must be safely secured from falling out of the window.
- The landlord’s insurance policy must allow window-mounted units to be installed.
- Landlords can require inspection of window-mounted units after installation.
- Fewer restrictions apply to other types of AC units, like floor-mounted devices and saddle-mounted units.
Allowing them to ban it in the lease makes this pretty toothless I would think. Every landlord will just do that asap. I'm not sure about the norms in Washington but I've had to usually re-sign a lease every year.
wait, you guys don't just become month to month after the original lease ends? that's fucked
It is fucked. And yes month to month does happen sometimes, and from my perspective it used to be the norm. But enshittification happens across the spectrum of commerce and since about 2013 most places I've lived in want a new lease signed every year. I've often been able to negotiate an addendum where I can move early without the usual penalty after the first year, but you'd be surprised how resistant and awkward some landlords can be about that. It's pretty fucked, as you said.
It's really area dependent. We have the option of going month-to-month or resigning for a year each time.
That's nice. I don't understand how it's been so accepted that so many places require a lease. I feel like until this thread I haven't really seen many people saying it's fucked. I even lived in a place where law requires that it's an option and yet like 3 landlords in that city pushed a lease on me.
Renting in general is fucked, I feel ya. And it's expensive and time-consuming to hold landlords accountable through the courts.
Yep. I've only ever had one landlord I would say good things about, and I've rented in like 20 different apartments. The guy I liked was super reasonable about everything, negotiated prices with me when I balked. Then when I moved out he paid me interest on the deposit, which was super shocking. I later found out was the law there. However in comparison to other landlords who blew me off when I even asked about it.
I've rented from many landlords in this area and I've never had AC outlawed in the lease.
I also don't see why a landlord who has previously allowed AC units would suddenly decide to ban them because of this.
Historically, only about 30% of homes in the PNW ever had AC to begin with.
Edit: I'm just having a conversation with you about the norms here in the PNW that relate to this article.
Yes because the law didn't explicitly cover that scenario.
Now. It does.