Working It Out -- Mediators Are Helping Landlords, Tenants Keep The Peace

In Snohomish County a couple of years ago, when a tenant and landlord would have a beef, mediators would strive to work out an ``amicable divorce.''

Now, as a result of rising prices and declining availability of rental units, mediators have changed their strategy.

``Our staff is instructed to do its best to help them work it out and continue the relationship,'' says Dick Kroll, program director for the Dispute Resolution Center of Snohomish County, part of the Volunteers of America.

In another development, the board of the Apartment Association of Seattle and King County is expected to make a decision by early spring on a new, expanded arbitration/conciliation program. Initially it would be available to members only, but eventually it would be open to other apartment owners and tenants.

In the past the association has conducted some mediations, but now there seems to be more need for landlord-tenant conversations with a neutral third party.

``It behooves us to take care of our own laundry,'' says Bill Brooks, administrator of the Apartment Association.

The wise landlord has begun to see the economics of maintaining the tenant base he has. Preparing and maintaining apartments to show prospective tenants incurs expenses, Brooks said.

``It may be a landlords' market, but tenants are choosy,'' Brooks added.

Jim Metz, executive director of the Dispute Resolution Center for Seattle and King County, says people are staying longer in the same rental.

What's behind these changes?

For one thing, the average monthly rent is $483 in King County, $482 in Snohomish County and $382 in Pierce County, according to the Cain & Scott Apartment Vacancy Report. Add the first and last month's rent, plus a cleaning fee and damage deposit, and you need $1,200 to $1,500 before you can consider moving. Not to mention the costs of connecting the phone, and renting a truck or paying professional movers.

Additionally, many prospective tenants now are asked to pay $25 to $30 for a credit check, says Dave Pordon, director of the Tenants Union, a 15-year-old nonprofit group.

Pordon believes that if landlords are going to require a credit check, there should be a legal standard for denying an available rental unit to a tenant.

A tenant may not be in bankruptcy, may have paid his rent on time, but may have been slow to pay a department-store bill. He still may be disqualified by a landlord, Pordon says.

``Because somebody doesn't pay his bills on time, are we going to say he can't have a place to live?'' Pordon asks.

Disputing a credit report with a landlord is not like disputing the same report with a credit-card issuer, Pordon says.

In the current housing crunch, the available unit could be rented to someone else by the time the tenant has convinced the landlord he can pay the rent.

``A credit card is a convenience. It's not the same as a roof over your head,'' Pordon said.

In Seattle, 52 percent of the population rents, according to the 1990 Housing Assistance Plan compiled by the city Department of Community Development.

Availability of rental units is down. According to the Cain & Scott Report published last fall, the vacancy rate in Snohomish County is 2.9 percent; King County, 3.7 percent; Pierce County, 5.3 percent.

That, say those who mediate landlord-tenant disputes, means you should try to stay where you are and work out differences.

The Tenants Union offers information but does not have the resources to mediate, Pordon says.

Plenty of people, however, call the Tenants Union. Last year it received 29,000 calls, compared with 24,000 in 1988.

Ninety percent of the calls came from tenants. The Tenants Union sells renter-information kits for $10 and landlord kits for $30. Membership in the union is $1 per $1,000 of income, with a cap of $20 a year.

Landlord-tenant cases are the biggest single category at both the Seattle-King County and Snohomish County Dispute Resolution Centers.

In 1988, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 40 percent of the cases accepted at the Snohomish County Dispute Resolution Center were landlord/tenant problems.

At the Seattle-King County Center, landlord-tenant problems represent 56 percent of the cases.

Kroll, Metz and Pordon all have stories about feuding landlords and tenants.

The Fremont Public Association also offers information about landlord-tenant problems, and sometimes tries to mediate. But the agency's staff is limited, and tenants or landlords with problems are advised to make an appointment for a free half-hour of advice from a volunteer lawyer on Wednesday evenings.

These days, when landlords and tenants have a beef, the Dispute Resolution Centers are the best arena because they offer free mediation. That part of the centers' services is financed by city and county grants, and donations from philanthropic organizations and individuals.

Though many of the disputes between landlords and tenants seem big to those individuals, neither can afford to spend several hundred dollars to go to court to solve a disagreement about pets that run loose, loud music or children who play on the neighbor's lawn.

Complaints about items that need repairs often coincide with a rent increase.

When the tenant receives notice of an increase, Pordon says the tenant often thinks: ``Wait a minute, I'm already paying big bucks, and the faucet leaks and the landlord wants more money?''

An increase in rent often brings other questions to agencies that offer information and mediation.

People who have come here from the East Coast and California expect rent-control regulations to be in place because other cities have them.

``They're surprised to learn we don't have rent control,'' Metz says.

Those who live in mobile homes and rent space in parks have different problems. So do the owners of mobile-home parks.

Mediation is mandated in some mobile-home cases. It costs from $4,000 to $7,000 to move a mobile home, and it's often difficult for the tenant to find a new park.

So state law requires a mobile-home-park landlord and tenant to mediate if the landlord has given the tenant one year's notice to move, or if the tenant has been given written notice that he is in violation of the park rules.

Those who deal in dispute resolution agree that landlord-tenant cases are among the most labor-intensive.

Kroll cited one case in which the tenant had moved in, agreeing to paint the outside of the house as a way to lower the rent. The tenant began the painting project, but instead of finishing it he made some repairs and additions inside that had not been approved by the landlord.

The landlord wanted the tenant out. The tenant didn't want to move; he wanted to be paid for work done inside.

Finally, the landlord and tenant came to an agreement: The tenant would finish painting the house as originally agreed. The landlord would inspect the inside work and if he thought it was good, would pay for part of it.

Both left the mediation feeling good, which is what mediators want. ``We like to have two winners,'' Kroll says.

Metz says tenants frequently complain that landlords have failed to make repairs in a timely manner. But tenants don't always notify the landlord in writing about needed repairs, as is required by state law. And sometimes they believe they can stop paying the rent if repairs aren't made. Wrong.

Under revisions made last August in the state law, a landlord has 24 hours to repair if there is no hot or cold water, heat, electricity or for a hazardous condition.

The landlord has 72 hours to repair refrigerators, ranges and ovens, or a major plumbing fixture supplied by landlord.

If the landlord does not start the repairs within the required time, and if the tenant has paid both rent and utilities, the tenant can give written notice and move out immediately, hire an attorney, or hire someone to make the repairs.

Tenants are entitled to a pro-rated refund of their rent as well as deposits that normally would be returned.

After they move, tenants' most frequent complaint is about the difficulty of having their deposits returned. Under state law, a landlord has 14 days in which to return deposits, or give the tenant a written statement on why all or part of the deposit is being kept.

Metz says there are fewer ``cleaning deposits'' these days. Most landlords now assess cleaning fees that are not refundable.

Tenants and landlords frequently disagree about what is clean, and what is normal wear and tear.

Mediators often give both parties a ``reality'' check on this matter.

Like Kroll, Metz works for ``win/win'' situations. In one mediation the center was a ``winner'' too.

A young couple had complained that their damage deposit was withheld unfairly. After the discussion began, the money became a secondary matter, Metz said. The couple were angry because the landlord wouldn't show them the respect of hashing out the dispute in private. The landlord had thought a mediation session would be adversarial. It wasn't. As a result, the landlord wrote out a check to his former tenants, who endorsed it and contributed it to the center.

Metz says mediators make it clear at the beginning that some things are unacceptable. Physical violence, abusive, out-of-control behavior or a history of drug or alcohol abuse will disqualify people from using the center. So will a mind-set that says: ``I won't compromise.''

Mediators do allow those involved to let off steam, then get them back to talking to each other.

``We make it clear we're not advocates. We're not here to beat up on somebody. We try to hone to the middle ground,'' Metz said.

The 25 mediators who work for the Seattle-King County Dispute Resolution Center are volunteers; they are attorneys, social workers, business management consultants and transit drivers.

Metz and his mediators use community centers, libraries and other neutral locations for mediations.

About 75 to 80 percent of the people seen at the Seattle-King County center reach a written agreement, Metz says. Some just walk away and go on to court or say, ``forget it.''

Despite its best efforts, the Dispute Resolution Centers cannot settle all disagreements. Some are just too big.

Take, for instance, the roommates who share a home and pay $900 a month. Their rental agreement called for them to stay one year, or forfeit a security deposit of more than $800.

Then the landlord raised the rent to $1,250 a month.

``We can't pay that,'' the people told the Tenants Union. ``Are we going to lose our $800 if we move out early?'' It sounds like a no-win situation for the tenant.

In another situation, a family rented a house. They paid almost $2,000 in first and last month's rent and damage deposit. When they moved in there was no electricity and no water. It was not a water and power shut-off situation, Pordon said.

When nothing worked and repairs weren't being made, the family told the landlord they had to leave. He refused to refund their money.

Those are the kinds of dilemmas Pordon and his staff are hearing these days. And it's likely these tenants and landlords will end up in court. The stakes are high.

Seattle's just-cause eviction ordinance has its reasons

Seattle's just-cause eviction ordinance is the envy of tenants in other cities because landlords must give a specific reason listed in the law.

Outside Seattle, landlords can evict month-to-month tenants without giving a reason, as long as the eviction is not discriminatory or retaliatory.

The state does require landlords to give 20 days' notice when they want tenants to move.

Under Seattle's ordinance, a tenant may be evicted if he fails to pay the rent or comply with the rental agreement, and does not comply after receiving a 10-day notice from the landlord. Seattle's ordinance also says that a tenant who habitually fails to pay rent and makes it necessary for the landlord to notify him four or more times in a year can be evicted.

Under state law, if a tenant is even one day behind in rent, the landlord can issue a three-day notice to pay or move. A landlord is not required to accept a partial payment.

Seattle's ordinance and state law specify other terms under which tenants can be evicted.

Tenants Union's most common inquiries

1. Repairs, 17 percent

2. Evictions, 13 percent

3. Information on leases and rental agreements, 9 percent

4. Deposit loss, 6 percent

5. Deposit information, 6 percent

6. Vacating information, 6 percent

7. Rent increase, 5 percent

8. Invasion of privacy, 4 percent

9. Harassment, 3 percent

10. Rule change 3 percent

11. Discrimination, 2 percent

12. Condo conversion, smoke alarms, deadbolt locks, and, 26 percent.

SOURCE: Tenants Union