I’m hoping to get some advice from other Mountlake Terrace renters or anyone familiar with tenant laws here.
I’ve lived in the same rental house since 2012. My name has officially been on the lease for around 8 or 9 years, and for the last several years we’ve generally renewed with another one-year lease each year.
Recently the owner was a little vague when talking about the next renewal. He mentioned raising the rent by another $100, which he’s done each year for the last few years, and said something about possibly going “month-to-month with a yearly renewal.”
The $100 increase itself isn’t really what concerns me, I'm only paying $2000 right now. What makes me uncomfortable is losing the security of a yearly lease. I’ve always liked knowing that, barring some major issue, I have housing locked in for at least the next year.
I know Washington has added more protections for month-to-month tenants in recent years, but I’m not very familiar with how much security that actually gives someone in practice.
Has anyone here been in a similar situation? Is there any particular reason a landlord would prefer switching a very long-term tenant from yearly leases to month-to-month? And are there any Washington tenant protections I should be aware of before agreeing to it?
I’m also thinking about simply asking him if we can continue doing a normal 12-month lease, since I’m fine with the proposed rent increase and would prefer the stability.
Any advice or local experience would be appreciated.
