Previously, Washington’s rental laws didn’t have much guidance on new cooling units. Slatter said that landlords could refuse to let a tenant install one. The new law, by contrast, states that renters can now install a portable AC unit, as long as a landlord hasn’t explicitly written a ban into the lease.
The law, which went into effect in June, includes specific restrictions depending on the kinds of AC units a tenant is looking to install. For a window unit, here are the restrictions:
- A tenant must give the landlord two days’ notice before installation.
- The device cannot prevent a window accessible from the outside to be locked.
- It cannot require excessive brackets that would damage the window frame warranty.
- The device must be safely secured from falling out of the window.
- The landlord’s insurance policy must allow window-mounted units to be installed.
- Landlords can require inspection of window-mounted units after installation.
- Fewer restrictions apply to other types of AC units, like floor-mounted devices and saddle-mounted units.
Cannot prevent a window from being locked? How does that work? Window units are bracketed into the frame, preventing the window from being fully closed. So it can’t lock.
Or are they saying you have to have a separate lock?
I wondered this, too. My thought is that since it specifies “accessible from the outside” maybe windows above the first floor aren’t necessarily required to still be lockable? I don’t know.
The window has to be locked or lockable when the unit is in place.
Do a block of wood count?
Block of wood is basically the original lock, so seems reasonable.
If the wood acts just like a lock would, then its a lock.
you gotta still be able to jam a hockey stick between the sliding frame and the fixed frame end to secure it