Tired Landlord? Selling a Rental with Tenants in Milton, WA

Chapter 59.18 RCW is Washington’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. Selling the house does not, by itself, cancel a lease or a month-to-month tenancy. The tenant can still be in the house on the day the deed records. The buyer takes the property subject to that tenancy unless a lawful end to the tenancy has already happened. KindKey’s offer can assume the tenant stays. You do not have to stage the living room or promise that it will be vacant at closing.

City Hall is at 1000 Laurel Street, Milton, WA 98354, phone (253) 922-8733, with posted hours Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The city maintains streets, parks, and its own permits. It does not hear evictions, and it does not become your property manager because you are tired of calls. Fife is west, Edgewood is east, Pacific is north, and Federal Way is the larger King County city past the line. None of those city halls ends a Milton tenancy either.

Landlords sometimes hear that selling is a legal reason to end a tenancy. RCW 59.18.650(2)(e) is narrower than that. It describes a cause when the owner elects to sell a single-family residence and has given at least 90 days’ written notice. The statute says an owner “elects to sell” by making reasonable attempts to sell within 30 days after the tenant has vacated, including, at a minimum, listing the house at a reasonable price with a realty agency or advertising it on the multiple listing service. A rebuttable presumption says the owner did not intend to sell if that listing does not happen. Subsection (5) of the same statute says this cause does not end a fixed-term tenancy early unless the landlord and the tenant agree in writing and the tenant has at least 60 days to leave.

KindKey does not list houses. A purchase by KindKey is not a listing with a realty agency and it is not an MLS advertisement. Do not serve a notice under that subsection in order to empty a Milton house for a cash sale. KindKey will not write the notice, serve it, or tell you that it fits your lease. A Washington landlord-tenant attorney should read the lease, the statute, and any local rule together. If you want the tenant to stay through closing, say that when you ask for the offer. That is the path KindKey can actually price.

Bring the address, which county you believe the parcel is in, the lease if you have it, the rent amount, the deposit amount, and whether rent is current. The closing agent needs those facts because unpaid rent, a deposit, and prepaid rent can show up in the settlement. KindKey does not calculate what the tenant is owed and does not hold the deposit for you before closing. If you do not know the county, say so. Guessing from the school the tenant’s children attend, or from a neighbor in Edgewood, can send the title order to the wrong auditor.

A Pierce County Milton parcel records with the Pierce County Auditor. A King County Milton parcel records with the King County Recorder. Taxes follow the same split. King County’s map of Milton shows the county line inside the corporate boundary, including the northern part of the city, with I-5 along the west side of that King County portion. The closing agent confirms the parcel. Tell us about pets, a non-paying occupant, a garage converted to a room, or a repair you stopped making. The offer follows that house. A Milton-wide price, quoted before anyone sees the lease and the lot, is a guess.

You can keep managing the rental. You can also hire a licensed broker to list it, if the tenant will allow the access a listing needs and a retail buyer will accept an occupied house. KindKey will not run that listing and will not tell you it is a mistake. Showings are the part many tired landlords cannot face. A direct sale is one walkthrough, arranged with whatever notice your attorney says the lease and chapter 59.18 require. KindKey will not tell you to enter without that notice.

KindKey does not charge an agent commission or a separate assignment fee. Cash means the purchase is not waiting on a buyer’s mortgage approval. It does not erase a mortgage, a tax bill, or money the tenant is due. Those figures belong on the settlement statement before you sign. If the loan is in default, read the Milton foreclosure guide and talk with a Washington attorney about RCW 61.34. KindKey does not interpret that statute. If you inherited the rental and are not sure you can sign, read the Milton probate guide first. You can say no after you see the offer. Call (206) 519-5463 when you want the number.