Wright v. Miller

The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act of 1973’s (RLTA) proscription of lease provisions obligating a tenant to pay the landlord’s attorney fees does not prohibit a lease provision providing attorney fees to the prevailing party in a dispute arising out of the agreement. The evil that the RLTA’s proscription was designed to prevent, fee shifting to a party with little or no bargaining power, irrespective of the merits of a dispute, is not present in the context of prevailing party provisions. A subsequently enacted statute, RCW 4.84.330, specifically provides reasonable attorney fees and costs…