Landlord charged with tenant-rights violations

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Landlord charged with tenant-rights violations

Thursday, May 27, 1999

By LISA STIFFLER
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

A Capitol Hill apartment building owner failed to give tenants 90 days notice to move out when he decided to renovate their units, and did not offer the required relocation assistance of up to $2,000 for low-income residents, the Seattle city attorney claims.

Instead, the owner told four residents to be out in 20 days, then doubled and nearly tripled the rents with one month's notice when they protested the eviction.

Now, the landlord faces four counts of criminal harassment for retaliating against his tenants.

But Mike Garner, the attorney representing landlord Reyn Yates, said his client tried to follow regulations and has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him.

"We feel like we've complied with all the rules," Garner said. "We are surprised. We tried to comply with any applicable law and respond to any inquiries."

By law Seattle landlords must give 60 days notice when rents are raised more than 10 percent over a one year period.

The rent increases for tenants of the Eileen Court Apartments, 723 E. John, came three days after the notice to move was rescinded, the charges state. City ordinance forbids landlords from taking retaliatory steps against tenants who protest their actions.

Lee Lumsden, who has lived in the Eileen Court Apartments for nine years, was first ordered to move, and then had the rent for his one-bedroom apartment increased from $425 to $895 a month.

The average rate for a Capitol Hill apartment of this size during the fall of 1998 was $706, according to Dupree + Scott Apartment Advisors, a private firm offering apartment investment advice.

"They were trying to empty the building with massive rent increases," Lumsden said. "They've handled it extremely poorly."

Tenants Union City Organizer Scott Winn said he hopes that tenants and landlords can learn from this incident.

"I think it sends the message that landlords need to know the law and follow it, and if you break the law, the city will enforce it," said Winn.

Yates, who is part owner of No Boundaries Inc., which owns the 24-unit apartment building, had gained approval from the Seattle Department of Construction and Land Use for the renovations and the removal of the tenants, his attorney said.

"They said we could do what we did," Garner said, adding that DCLU employees would be subpoenaed in the case.

No Boundaries is a family-run business that owns multiple commercial properties.

If found guilty of the charges, the maximum penalty Yates could receive is a $5,000 fine and a year in jail. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for June 21.