Tenants file suit against Tourist Motel

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The plot has thickened at the Tourist Motel, where several tenants received eviction notices from the landlord.

An attorney for the Northwest Justice Project has filed suit in Yakima Superior Court saying that three tenants are being wrongly evicted.

Attorney Kathy Tierney brought the lawsuit on behalf of Duane Short, arguing that the landlord, Rajiv Sauson, is trying to expel him improperly. Further, Tierney argued, if Short does have to move, Sauson should pay relocation costs.

Two more tenants were later added to the suit, although their names were not immediately available Wednesday.

Short, 26, has lived at the motel for a year and pays $500 a month in rent. He received an eviction notice to move about a week ago.

Sauson, who said he has owned the motel for about a year, said in an interview Wednesday that he's simply trying to clean up the motel at 1223 N. First St. and bring it up to code. To do so, he maintains that he has to remove the last few tenants to finish renovations.

Trouble began at the Tourist in December when city code officers raided the motel along with representatives from several other agencies, including the state Department of Labor & Industries, the Yakima Health District and the Regional Clean Air Agency.

One of the motel's buildings, a two-story structure with 30 units, was shuttered because asbestos was present, officials said. There are three separate buildings on the site.

The code crackdown came in response to neighborhood complaints about unsavory behavior at the rundown facility.

On Wednesday, Sauson pointed to ongoing repairs, including new carpet, paint, doors and plumbing fixtures. He said he's already committed to spending $90,000 to $100,000 to remodel and fix code violations.

He contended that he can't finish the job if remaining tenants won't vacate the premises. It's unclear how many people still live at the motel.

Motel manager Shaun Leavitt said five people remain, and Sauson said there are two.

Those two people have made it impossible to fix the problems, Sauson said, alleging that one has 11 cats and that the other has ripped up the carpet and strewn around garbage.

"I'm doing everything I can," Sauson said. "I want this place to be clean."

He said he hopes to
reopen the motel in a month or so under the name,
Sunshine Motel.

But Tierney, the Northwest Justice Project attorney, said Sauson hasn't properly followed procedures to move tenants out. She claimed he erroneously alleged in his notice that they didn't pay rent and gave them three days to vacate, which requires a court order.

In addition, Tierney argued, when a government agency notifies a landlord that a dwelling violates codes and will be unlawful to occupy, then state law requires the landlord to provide relocation costs, $2,000 in Short's case.

"The landlord owes the funds. We're just asking for what the law says," Tierney maintained.

"We realize it's best to shut (the motel) down and get it up to code," she said, adding that she doesn't want her clients to face being homeless.

However, Sauson's attorney sees it differently. Noting that he didn't receive the case until Wednesday afternoon, Craig L. Smith believes the building where the remaining tenants live was not the one condemned by the city.

If so, that means his client would not have to pay relocation costs, Smith argued.

A telephone call seeking clarification from Joe Caruso, code enforcement official for the city, was not immediately returned.

Smith said that he has formally filed for a withdrawal of Sauson's eviction notice, which he agreed was not in the proper form.

"My philosophy is to back up and start all over again," he said.

Smith said that could mean filing a 20-day notice for the tenants to relocate. Whether Sauson would have to pay relocation costs remains unclear but could be resolved during a court appearance scheduled for Friday.