Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

I am moving from a rental property solely due to the Landlady. She is constantly breaking the landlord tennant act. Neighbors have seen her peaking into windows, breaking into the garage, even coming to the house 2-3 times a week without giving notice. She claims she is there to maintain the yard, but had even openly admitted to my neighbor that she has been in the house without my permission. Now she wants to bring possible renters to look at the property...am I legally allowed to give these possible renters my honest opinion about how horrible the landlady is?


Asked on 4/21/13, 7:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir John Showrai The Pacific Law Firm, PLLC

Although you may be tempted to share your opinion of your landlord with future tenants, I would caution you against doing so. The reason being that although it will feel good to trash your landlord to a neutral third party, at the end of the day, you will gain very little from it. Sure, you will make your landlord miserable and possibly make it difficult for her to rent the place, but she may then decide to make things difficult for you by suing you for defamation. you are protected, but she will claim that you misstated facts about her that amount to defamation. It will cost you a lot of money and time, not to mention the emotional aggravation of having this landlady stick with you long after you have moved out, to go through all this.

Legally, yes, you may give your opinion. Just be careful since the consequence of expressing an opinion, can sometimes be a lot more than you bargained for.

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Answered on 4/23/13, 2:01 pm


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