questions about rental contract

[Charles D.]

I have a rental house in Washington state and manage it myself. The rental agreement will expire in 2 months. I want to change to month-to-month lease. Do I have to make a new rental agreement and have the tenant sign it or the orginal agreement will automatically default to month-to-month lease? Thanks in advance.

[John Barrett]

@Charles D. Based on the information provided, you will need to sign a new lease with these tenants if they wish to remain in the unit.  Otherwise they would need to move out of the unit at the end of the lease agreement.  Please note that there are specific rules and regulations that can be different depending on what city/county your property is located in.

I would suggest that you look up joining either RHAWA or WLA.  Both are Washington State specific landlord associations and have all the proper leases, along with many other resources available.  There is nothing that prevents you from offering the tenants the option of signing a new lease agreement with them.  In this case, I would contact the tenants find out what their plans are and then offer to sign a new month to month lease (depending on any city specific rules / regs allow).  Worst case they decline and tell you the plan to leave in two months.  Either way you know what you need to plan for going forward.

Best of luck,

John