Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

While your landlord is correct that the Washington Residential Landlord Tenant Act ("RLTA") does not apply to a commercial lease, there are other laws that do apply and can help you. First and foremost is a body of contract law surrounding commercial leases, and your lease ultimately dictates how contract law applies to you. For example, your lease may provide that if you or your landlord sue each other, the prevailing party in court shall have their fees paid for by the other side.

Your lease may also define what are reasonable periods of time for your landlord to effectuate a repair after you provide notice, and it may define how you are to provide notice to the landlord for the notice to be deemed effective and trigger a duty on the part of the landlord to act.

Bottom line: I am happy to help you out, and I would start by analyzing your written lease. From there, I can tell you what I think you can do, from breaking the lease and moving without penalty, to forcing your landlord to make certain modifications through court orders if need be, or allowing you to move and seeking damages against your landlord in court for things such as higher rent in another location and moving costs.