Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 850318.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 850318.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
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Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/850318.pdf ↗

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(1) make, or cause to be made, any filing with the
court of jurisdiction to initiate a legal action to recover
possession of the covered dwelling from the tenant for
nonpayment of rent or other fees or charges; or
(2) charge fees, penalties, or other charges to the
tenant related to such nonpayment of rent.
(c) NOTICE.—The lessor of a covered dwelling unit—
(1) may not require the tenant to vacate the covered
dwelling unit before the date that is 30 days after the date on
which the lessor provides the tenant with a notice to vacate;
and
(2) may not issue a notice to vacate under paragraph
(1) until after the expiration of the period described in
subsection (b).

Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Pub. L. No. 116-136,

§ 4024, 134 Stat. 281, 492-94 (2020) (emphasis added).

1

The plain meaning of Section 4024’s 30-day notice to vacate provision—

paragraph (c)(1)—is that it applies only to evictions stemming from nonpayment

of rent.8 Section 4024 sets forth a temporary moratorium on evictions from

covered dwellings in which the basis provided for such eviction is nonpayment of

rent. Indeed, Section 4024 is titled “Temporary Moratorium on Eviction Filings,”

and subsection (b) thereof explicitly sets forth a 120-day moratorium on evictions

(and penalties) in covered dwellings in which the basis for initiating such an

eviction (or imposing such penalties) stems from a tenant’s nonpayment of rent.

134 Stat. at 493.

Subsection (c) of Section 4024, by contrast, does not explicitly set forth

such a basis. Nevertheless, by looking to “all that the Legislature has said in the

8 We use the nomenclature set forth in the text of the bill which Congress enacted to

describe the organizational structure of the CARES Act.