End of Tenancy and Breaking The Lease in Washington

What happens in Washington when the lease is over?

At the end of the lease in Washington, either party can opt to end the tenancy. The rental investor could choose not to renew the lease or the renter could choose to not to renew the lease. If the landlord wishes to end the lease, or end our property management services, please send us written notice as described in your management agreement.

When we don't receive such notice, we will strive to make choices that will keep your property producing the highest possible net income. This means that we will often contact a tenant 6 to 8 weeks before the end of the lease term in order to renew the lease.

At that point we give the tenant two choices:

  1. Month-to-month --- This will include a large rent increase.
  2. Renew the lease --- This will lock the rental up for another year with a small rent increase.

When renters break the lease

Sometimes things happen which make a tenant to end the lease before the lease term is over. If this happens, Nesbitt Realty tries to minimize the impact of this event on the owner. If a renter leaves with little or no notice, this will surely cause the renter to surrender the deposit but this is never a windfall for the property owner. That money is consumed by paying for vacancy and the cost of acquiring a new renter .

Readying the rental

We will have the carpet professional cleaned upon tenant move-out and the actual cost of carpeting will be deducted from the tenant 's security deposit, per your lease.
We recommend that the owner replace the carpet every 5 to 7 years. We recommend that the rental investor paint every 5 to 7 years.

Utilities

During vacancies we will either put the utilities in our name or in the rental owner's name.