Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Re: landlord-tenant

A bona fide option *can* act to remove you from the Residential Landlord Tenant Act under certain situations, because then your arrangment has more value to you than a tenancy.

Promises (sometimes covenants) are of varying importance. Whether or not you can enforce the provision re the lawn or call breach for their failure to deal with it is really a dicey question.

If you said that you no longer wanted the place because they failed to put in the lawn as promised then I would urge you to re-evaluate your priorities especially in the Pierce County housing market.

The lease runs through February, but the option suggests you want to stay there longer. If it is a bona fide option and you plan to buy, my advice would be to be sure you exercise the option as contracted and put in the lawn yourselves.

Lawns are cheap. Expressed as a percentage of the value of the home it is a minimal amount.

There is a concept in the law called mitigation of damages. That means if the other person to a contract breaches the agreement, you have a duty to cover - to do the work, to make it right.

That said, one way to mitigate might be a firm letter reminding them of what they promised to do and have failed to deliver.

No threats at this point, but . . . just the recap, as you provided here, may get them to do the work.

But before you walk away be sure it is in your best economic interest to do so, as a failure to provide a lawn is not going to have a judge paying rapt attention to your argument.

Neither is withholding rent on this basis - don't do that.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell