[Washington State] Can my landlord terminate our agreement if I use an electric heater? legaladvice

I'm on a month-to-month rental agreement for a stationary fifth-wheel with my landlord. In the terms of the agreement, it states that all utilities are included in rent except for gas. However, my landlord has an unofficial policy--not stipulated in any written agreement I have (or any other tenant, as far as I know has) with the landlord: that tenants not use electric space heaters. He's never explicitly requested that I don't, but the property manager has made it clear that that's his policy, even if it isn't always followed.

I cannot afford propane most of the time, and therefore have used an electric space heater in the past. Once again, I'm fairly certain many of the tenants use electric space heaters, since they have no legal obligation to comply with the landlord's informal request, or even to be honest with him about it.

When I first moved in, the gas heat required repairs in order to function reliably, so I was provided an electric space heater by the landlord; although since it was the dead of winter I used my own and a friend's which was lent to me as well to keep the place a livable temperature. It's a trailer after all: It takes about 30 minutes to drop to ambient temperature without heat being pumped into it. Even after all of that, it's still not 100% and has a tendency to start blowing cold air until the place turns into a refrigerator unless I restart it. Which is hard to do when I'm asleep.

I've heard that he's kicked tenants out for using space heaters in the past, though, and while he's out of the country for most of the year and so not going to catch anyone "warm-handed," it's an uncomfortable and risky situation when he's in town. Such as right now.

Basically, it's gonna be one of these:

1. I'm cold because I don't use propane or electric heat.

2. I'm warm for a few days, but then I'm cold because I've used up the rest of my propane and can't afford any more.

3. I'm warm, but will likely get kicked out for using electric heat.

I'm wondering if there's a solution to this problem.

• Is there a legal defense against my landlord ending our agreement with the state-standard 20-day No Cause Termination when it's because I'm keeping my place warm the only way I can afford to at the moment? (Caveat: I don't live in Seattle, so there's no Just Cause requirement here; if there were, it'd be a lot easier.)

• How could I negotiate with my landlord so that I can use electric heat without potentially paying even more than it costs to get propane or getting kicked out? Keeping in mind that basically everyone on the property has been lying to him about not using space heaters....

• Is there some other way to get out of this bind that I haven't considered?

Thank you so very much for your time! I look forward to hearing all of your expert advice ;)

Ys of the Fridge Domicile

Submitted May 02, 2017 at 06:37AM by ysadamsson http://ift.tt/2oZQqhc legaladvice