Rent Increase
Accepting Partial Payments
Stevens Housing Co-op I v. Guiffre: 1998 Wash. App.
LEXIS 438 (Wash. Ct. App. 3/23/98).
Question before the court:
Can a landlord accept partial payments
for rent without relinquishing his right to collect the full amount?
Facts of the case:
A Washington tenant refused to pay a
$40-a month rent increase. He claimed the owner had no right to raise rents. Each month
thereafter the tenant continued to pay the same old rent amount. The owner accepted the
rent each month but sent a follow-up notice that the rent had not been paid in full.
A year later, the owner sued to evict the
tenant for nonpayment of rent. The tenant said the owner couldn't evict him, claiming that
the owner had given up the right to collect the full rent amount by accepting the partial
payments.
Decision for Landlord
The court disagreed with the tenants argument and
said the owner could evict the resident. The notices the owner sent each month showed that
the owner wasn't excusing the resident from paying his full rent.
[ Stevens Housing Co-op I v. Guiffre].
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