1
April, 2001
1124
Newport Way
Seattle,
WA 98122
Dear
Brian Thomas:
This
letter is being drafted after 12 consecutive months of frustration due to
living in the construction zone that is 1126 Newport Way. Over the course of a year we have asked you –
both in formal “house meetings” and in everyday conversation – to finalize the
work you started so we can live in peace again. You have disregarded all oral
attempts made on our part to identify this problem to you, you have evaded all
attempts to create any sort of work schedule, and you have refused to adhere to
a timeline to see the work through to completion. Your regular appearances as a construction
worker in the house we currently rent from you are unwanted, disruptive,
invasive, and – after all our attempts to address this uncomfortable situation
– disrespectful to our personal space that is our home. We need to re-establish the boundaries
between our space and yours.
By
offering up this unit as a rental, by law you relinquish certain visitation rights
to the house. We would like to keep
relations amiable, on good terms, and without bringing legal policy into the
equation. However, for the record,
section RCW 59.18.150 of The Landlord-Tenant Act of Washington State
specifically states:
The landlord shall not abuse
the right of access [to the house] or use it to
harass the tenant. Except in the case of emergency or if it is impracticable to
do so, the landlord shall give the tenant at least two days' notice of his or
her intent to enter and shall enter only at reasonable times…A landlord shall
not unreasonably interfere with a tenant's enjoyment of the rented dwelling
unit by excessively exhibiting the dwelling unit….A landlord or tenant who
continues to violate this section after being served with one written
notification alleging in good faith violations of this section listing the date
and time of the violation shall be liable for up to one hundred dollars for
each violation after receipt of the notice.
On
the date of March 20, 2001 at 8:30 in the morning, as well as countless other
days, you failed to give us proper notice of your intent to enter our unit and
entered without consent.
We
believe that as soon as the noisy work you are doing on the house stops, also
will the tension between you and us. For
the sanity and mental health of everyone involved we need you to halt all
further work on the house effective immediately. This means the upstairs room is done. This means no new projects. The type of work and repairs this house
requires simply cannot be completed while you are renting the unit out to
tenants. It is driving us crazy.
If
you would like to enter our unit to do a necessary or agreed upon repair,
inspection, or improvement please be sure to give us the 48 hours notice
required by law. Other than entering and
leaving the basement of our unit for laundry purposes only you do not need to
be in the portion of the house we rent from you.
If
you object to these rules you must let us know within 24 hours of receiving
this letter. Otherwise, the line has
been drawn. We regret that things have
gotten to this point, but this is approaching an un-livable situation. Accept this agreement and let’s be friends
again.
Keith
Apgar
Tyler
Hanson
Jeremy
Crikket Brewer