When a 42-unit apartment building for seniors in Arlington, Washington, was going to be sold and lose its low-rent status, lawyers with NJP stepped in to protect elderly residents. The new owners wanted to remove the building, called Stilly II, from a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program that capped rent levels and required good cause for eviction. To make sure this could happen in record time, the owners took some questionable procedural shortcuts.
With the housing of dozens of elderly and disabled tenants at risk, NJP filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to USDA and learned that the federal law on the sales process hadn’t been followed. In addition, public Disclosure Act requests to local government revealed that Stilly II’s owner did not follow Washington state law requiring one-year notice to tenants and public agencies prior to prepayment of the mortgage.
Even as NJP discovered these legal breaches, the sale moved forward. Looking for another means to protect the seniors, NJP attorneys held two legal education sessions at a nearby library and passed out educational flyers to tenants. Several tenants sought NJP representation to protect their rights. The head of the company intending to buy the building responded by issuing a letter to tenants saying the company intended not to raise their rents and to keep the building affordable.
Although it was too late to prevent the removal of the apartment building from the USDA program, NJP used the legal violations and the buyer's public promises as leverage to negotiate a binding agreement that protected tenants. The final covenant guaranteed no rent increases for current residents, maintained their eviction protections, and ensured 20-year affordability for future tenants.