Mountlake Terrace tenants given 23 days to 'vacate premises'

The clock is ticking for dozens of tenants being forced out of their homes at a moment's notice.

Their passionate plea is to their landlord to avoid eviction.

The Mountlake Terrace tenants in 26 units were told, they're being tossed out the end of the month.

Washington state law requires that landlords give 20 days’ notice to tenants to vacate.

And that is what the owners have done in this case.

But the people who live in the Greenview Apartments say while this might be legal, they believe it is still wrong.

Heidi Benson walked past moving boxes to quiet her dogs who were none too pleased strangers were inside the apartment where she has lived for four years.

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"This is my son's room, which we have been packing today," said Benson. "One, two, we got about six boxes over here."

They are packing up because of a notice to vacate she and her neighbors in two buildings at the Greenview Apartments got last Friday night.

"At 7:30 at night, it's a 20-day notice to terminate tenancy," said Mary Houdyshell, a tenant for eight years. "I went into shock."

Just the day before, they got a friendly letter announcing new management complete with a new name for their complex.

But since January, they have been living on month-to-month leases.

Still, their sudden eviction stings.

"Friday night, I was crying, all the way up until Saturday," said Benson. "I went to work on Saturday. I actually had to go home because I was so discombobulated that I could not do anything."

What do they want?

"I want more time," said Houdyshell. "I want them to be reasonable and understand you can't do this to people. I know it's not illegal. That's what everybody keeps telling me. But what about immoral?"

Late Monday, Jared Goetz of Tecton, the new management company, returned KIRO 7's call.

The new owner, he says, plans much needed renovations to the complex.

He says they have offered to let tenants move into vacant units, at their current rents, while their old apartments are being remodeled.

In fact, he says some tenants are taking them up on that offer. Moreover, he says they would very much like for the current tenants to stay on.

Cox Media Group