Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Re: landlord suing for rent

If your landlord is taking you to court, he will have the burden of proving beyond a preponderance of evidence, that you breached the lease and any agreement after the lease was signed. A preponderance of evidence means that it is more likely than not he is right and you are wrong.

Most of the time, people lose in small claims court because they try to debate the judge or their opponent and forget about proving their own defense. If you want to win and avoid having to pay the extra rent (and possibly interest, costs, and damages if you lease provides for that), you need to get organized and figure out how to present your side of the case in a respectful, clear, logical, and convincing way.

It�s too bad that your agreement regarding the deposit being taken by the landlord as last month�s rent is not in writing. Under contract law, certain agreements must be in written form or they aren�t enforceable. This is called the statute of frauds. But most subsequent oral modifications to a written agreement are excluded, and they can be enforced if there�s proof they existed. Do you have a witness who can testify under oath that this agreement was made? Has the landlord admitted the existence of this arrangement in any written documents, like a memo or a letter, which is signed by the landlord? If any of this proof exists, you definitely need to present it in court.

Finally, the fact you wrote, �FEB rent� on your check might just save your bacon. If February�s rent was the last month�s rent (your deposit and the $300.00 equaling what you owed), and the Landlord cashed the check after claiming you owed more, you can try to argue that his cashing your check was an implied �accord and satisfaction� of the debt owed. You�ll need to get a copy of the cashed check from your bank and look on both sides. Has the landlord written �Not a full satisfaction / No accord� or something like that on your check? Without these words and with a signature indorsing the check, you might have a good argument that he knowingly accepted a lesser amount (the �accord�) and now the debt is paid in full (the �satisfaction�).

If possible, try to go see a lawyer in your local area before you proceed. There probably are some facts you didn�t mention in your question and these may tend to negate or might even totally void everything I�ve said here. Next time, you should get everything you agree to in a written for that is signed by the landlord! Good luck and defend yourself well!