Little Mountain Estates Tenants Ass'n v. Little Mountain Estates MHC, LLC

Summary

The Washington Supreme Court held that the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act permits a landlord and tenant to agree to a rental term that changes upon assignment. A provision granting the original tenant a 25-year lease but limiting an assignee to a one- or two-year term did not violate the Act because the parties had agreed to those terms and the tenant's right to assign was not eliminated. The court reversed the Court of Appeals in part and remanded the tenants' Consumer Protection Act and attorney-fee claims.

Holdings

1. The MHLTA permits a landlord and tenant to negotiate and agree to the term of a rental agreement, including a term that is determined by a formula or linked to the tenant's decision to assign the lease. The agreed provision giving the original tenant a 25-year term and an assignee a one- or two-year term therefore does not violate the MHLTA.
2. The assignment provision did not waive or eliminate the tenants' right to assign their rental agreements. It merely defined the term that would apply to an assignment, and the tenants never possessed an assignable 25-year term under their agreements.
3. Legislative-intent statements do not justify invalidating the assignment provision because the operative statutory language is unambiguous. In any event, the stated purposes of the MHLTA were consistent with allowing the provision because the arrangement promoted stable, affordable housing and the economic feasibility of the manufactured-home community.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the MHLTA permits a landlord and tenant to agree to a 25-year rental term for the original tenant that becomes a one- or two-year term upon assignment.
2. Whether the assignment provision unlawfully waives or limits the tenant's statutory right to assign the rental agreement.
3. Whether the Consumer Protection Act claim was properly before the Supreme Court on review.

Disposition

reversed_and_remanded