If a landlord attempts to enforce provisions in a rental agreement
that are contrary to the requirements of Sections 7.24.030,
7.24.035, 7.24.036, or 7.24.038, the landlord shall be liable to the
tenant for: 1) any actual damages incurred by the tenant as a result
of the landlord’s attempted enforcement; 2) double the amount of
any penalties imposed by the City; 3) double the amount of any
security deposit unlawfully charged or withheld by the landlord; and
4) reasonable attorney fees and costs.
SMC 7.24.060(A)(1) (emphasis added). As can be seen, the plain language of the
statute is mandatory—“the landlord shall be liable.” Thus, if a landlord attempts to
enforce provisions in a rental agreement that are contrary to the requirements of
the enumerated provisions, the trial court must award (1) actual damages, (2)
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No. 83734-6-I/8
double any penalties imposed, (3) double the amount of any security deposit
unlawfully charged or withheld, and (4) reasonable attorney fees and costs. The
trial court here correctly recognized and applied subsection (1) but erroneously
overlooked subsection (3) as well as subsection (4).
While Tenants can recover statutory damages under the SMC, what they
cannot do is recover those statutory damages multiple times. That issue is
squarely addressed in SMC 7.24.060(A)(1), which states that a landlord “shall be
liable” if the “landlord attempts to enforce provisions in a rental agreement that are
contrary to the requirements of Sections 7.24.030, 7.24.035, 7.24.036, or
7.24.038.” (Emphasis added.) As the plural “provisions” shows, a landlord is liable
for actual and statutory damages under SMC 7.24.060(A)(1) if the landlord