Facts: Respondent Little Mountain Estates Tenants Association filed suit against petitioner Little Mountain Estates Mobile Home Community, L.L.C. in the Superior Court for Skagit County on behalf of tenants who had assigned their leases, claiming that lease provisions converting leases’ original twenty-five year terms into one or two year terms upon assignment violated the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord Tenant Act (Washington Revised Code §59.20), which protects mobile home tenants’ right to assign their leases. The trial court dismissed the suit, ruling that the lease terms did not violate §59.20. The Washington Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s decision, concluding that the lease provisions constituted an unenforceable waiver of the right to assign a mobile home lease. Little Mountain Estates appealed this decision to the Supreme Court of Washington.

Question(s): Do the lease provisions changing the duration of the lease upon assignment violate the right to assignment guaranteed by §59.20?

Conclusion: Justice Sanders’ opinion for the Court held that the contested lease provisions do not violate §59.20 insofar as they merely preclude tenants from assigning a twenty-five year lease rather than from assigning their lease entirely and thus do not constitute a waiver of the right to assignment. Thus, the provisions were ruled enforceable and the Court reversed the decision of the Washington Court of Appeals.

Docket No. 82574-2 (from Court of Appeals Division I Case No. 57810-3)

Petitioner: Little Mountain Estates Mobile Home Community, L.L.C.

(Counsel: Sidney Charlotte Tribe and Walter Hartvig Olsen, Jr.)

Respondent: Little Mountain Estates Tenants Association

(Counsel: Philip James Buri)

Briefs:

Argument: Tuesday, March 16, 2010 10:00am

[Source: TVW, http://tvw.org]

Decided: Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

Prevailing Party: Little Mountain Estates Mobile Home Community, L.L.C. (Petitioner)

Vote: 5-4

Citation: Pending

Court: Madsen1 Court (2010-)

Madsen

Johnson

Alexander
(Dissent)

Sanders
(Majority)

Chambers

Owens

Fairhurst

Johnson

Stephens

Opinion

Dissent