Summer 2021 Newsletter 

Our Reliable Service | Your Peace of Mind

Spotlight on Property Managers: Lee Nichols

Lee Nichols moved back to the Pacific Northwest in 2011 after living in California for 20 years. She is a former tenant of Maple Leaf Property Management and loved us so much she came on board as a Property Manager in 2014 and loves every minute of it.


Having a desire and excitement to work in various aspects of the real estate industry, Lee believes that excellent customer service is the foundation of a business, and this shows in her actions of being very responsive, an excellent communicator and caring deeply about all out client's needs. She also believes that honesty and humility are key factors in success, and she greatly enjoys interactions with all of the people her work allows her to communicate with on a daily basis. Lee is passionate about making contributions to help Maple Leaf Property Management grows to even higher levels and is immensely proud to be a part of this elite team. Lee is a Notary for our company.


Lee is the 2021 President of the King County NARPM Chapter. NARPM provides resources for residential property management professionals who desire to learn, grow, and build relationships. She brings in educational speakers for the King County Chapter members and had one of the highest attended classes n the chapter's history! We are proud of her and her accomplishments.


During her free time, Lee loves spending time in nature, either hiking a mountain or kayaking the Sound. She is madly in love with her granddaughter, and loves spending time with family and friends. Call Lee, she looks forward to meeting and working with you!


About Lee!

 

Why You Need Landlord Insurance


If you are renting out a residential property, it is essential to have landlord insurance: not homeowner's insurance. Homeowner's insurance will not cover a dwelling that is not occupied by its owner. And while renters are required to carry renter's insurance, there are many instances where they are not held liable: if a major appliance malfunctions, a visitor suffers an injury on the property (through no fault of the tenant), a fire damages or destroys the home, or a water pipe suddenly bursts.

 

When shopping for landlord insurance, look for these three core protections:


Property Damage: This is coverage in the event that the property suffers damage from natural disaster, fire, electric/gas malfunction, vandalism or even irresponsible tenants. If possible, get a policy that offers replacement cost instead of actual cash value as, especially in the case of older properties, the replacement cost will be a lot more than the cash value.


Lost Rental Income: If the property becomes uninhabitable (severe mold, no water, no heat, etc.) this provides temporary rental reimbursement while the tenants are displaced.


Liability Protection: This covers medical and legal costs if a tenant or visitor suffers an injury due to an issue with the property (icy walkways, collapsed stair, etc.).

 

For more information, check out this informational video on our website: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDqeaFDPDew

There's a YouTube Video for Everything

 We've all heard stories about the amazing things people have learned via online instructional videos--from baking the perfect cookie to replacing a car engine. Maple Leaf Property Management has now joined the video trend and has already put together a small library for our owners and tenants. In addition to the video about landlord insurance, we have information about how we handle maintenance and showing available properties. To view them, just go to our website and click Resources. What else would you like to see? We'd love to know your suggestions for new videos.

New Rental Housing Laws in Washington

The Washington State Legislature recently wrapped up its very busy (and all virtual) 2021 session. Two new laws that will affect rental property owners are HB 1236 and SB 5160. HB 1236 addresses Just Cause Termination and Mandatory Lease Renewal. The situations where we can end a lease without Just Cause have been greatly limited, especially in month-to-month situations. This law also creates numerous mandatory timelines for notices to end a tenancy. For example, owners must now provide 90-day notices to tenants if they intend to sell or move back into their property. SB 5160 addresses late fees and other issues created by the moratorium, makes mandatory the Early Resolution Program for eviction (ERP) and guarantees the right to counsel for show cause hearings and trials for indigent tenants. For complete details on the timing for notices and other new rules, visit https://www.rhawa.org/blog/2021-legislative-session-bill-summaries.

Seattle City Council Passes Significant New Rental Rules

The pandemic has inspired a lot of policy changes, as illustrated in Washington's new rental housing laws. The Seattle City Council has also sought to make many pandemic-era restrictions permanent—as well as greatly broaden their scope. The most significant changes are CB (council bill) 120046, CB 120047, and CB 120090. These bills were passed by the council on June 7 and will be enacted 30 days after the mayor signs them into law. Here’s a brief overview provided by the Rental Housing Association of Washington:

CB 120046 - School Year Eviction Ban
• Defines "School" as a "childcare, early childhood education and assistance program, or head start facility, and any public, private, or parochial institution that provides educational instruction in any or all of the grades and age groups up to and including twelfth grade."
• This definition includes such a broad range of facilities. When paired with the broad definition of educator, it provides the defense to most tenants in the city.
• Defines "Educator" as "any person who works at a school in Seattle as an employee or independent contractor of the school or its governing body"
•This includes temporary employees such as plumbers, maintenance staff, as well as temporary nurses or substitutes. The unreasonably broad definition of both school and educator will allow many tenants to assert this defense that are not the people that the council seeks to protect.
• Provides a defense to evictions during the school year, defined as the earliest start date to the latest end date.
• This is a permanent ordinance with no sunset date.

CB 120077 - COVID Debt Eviction Ban
• Provides a defense to evictions for all debt due from March 2020 through the end of the Mayor's civil emergency period.

CB 120090 - Mandatory Lease Renewal
• Requires housing providers to offer a lease extension of "reasonable terms" 60-90 days prior to the end of a lease term unless they have just cause to terminate the tenancy.
• The penalty for failing to comply with this ordinance is three months’ rent and reasonable attorney's fees.

We monitor all changes to rental laws very closely—from the federal rules to local ordinances—and will continue to keep you updated. Our company is already updating our day-to-day procedures in response to these new rules, and we’ll always be quick to adapt as the industry’s rules change. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns about these new rules.
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