Quiet enjoyment

Key Takeaways

• Quiet enjoyment protects possession, not silence. The interference it addresses is a superior legal claim to the property or a wrongful act by the landlord or grantor.
• The covenant runs in two settings: from grantor to grantee in a deed, and from landlord to tenant in a lease.
• In Washington the statutory warranty deed carries the covenant of quiet and peaceable possession by operation of RCW 64.04.030, even though the words never appear in the document.
• A quitclaim deed carries no covenant of quiet enjoyment because it passes only whatever interest the grantor happens to hold.

What It Means

Quiet enjoyment is the right to hold and use property in peace, free from interference by someone with a better claim to it. The word quiet is doing legal work here, not describing noise levels. A barking dog next door does not breach it. A stranger arriving with a recorded interest that beats yours does.

The promise turns up in two relationships, and knowing which one a question is testing is half the battle. In a conveyance it is a covenant the grantor makes to the grantee: I own what I am selling you, and if a person with a lawful claim comes after your possession, I will defend it. That is why it is counted among the promises backing Marketable Title. In a lease it is a promise from landlord to tenant: I have the right to rent this to you, and I will not wrongfully interfere with your possession while the tenancy runs.

The two senses share one core idea. A party with the power to disturb your possession has promised not to, and has promised to stand behind that promise when a third party tries. What differs is who owes the duty and how long it lasts: the deed covenant follows the title, while the lease covenant lives and dies with the tenancy.

How It Works in Washington

In Washington both halves of the covenant are backed by statute. On the conveyance side, RCW 64.04.030 makes a statutory Warranty Deed carry its covenants without spelling them out: that the grantor was lawfully seized of an indefeasible estate in fee simple, had good right and full power to convey, that the property was free from encumbrances, and that the grantor warrants to the grantee the quiet and peaceable possession of the premises and will defend the title against all persons who may lawfully claim it. Set that against RCW 64.04.050, the quitclaim form, which conveys all the grantor's then existing legal and equitable rights and warrants nothing at all.

On the tenancy side, Washington backs quiet enjoyment with conduct rules aimed squarely at the landlord. RCW 59.18.290 makes it unlawful for a landlord to remove or exclude a tenant from the premises except under a court order, and a tenant removed in violation of it may recover possession or terminate the rental agreement, with actual damages and attorney fees either way. RCW 59.18.150 requires at least two days' written notice before the landlord enters to inspect or make repairs, and at least one day's notice to show the unit to prospective purchasers or tenants, and it forbids the landlord to abuse the right of access or use it to harass the tenant. A self-help lockout is the plainest breach on the tenancy side, and where interference gets bad enough that the tenant has to leave, the claim becomes Constructive Eviction.

Example

Maria buys a house in Spokane, Washington for $480,000 and takes a statutory warranty deed from the seller, Dale. Nine months later a neighbor produces a driveway easement recorded in 2009 that crosses Maria's side yard, and begins using it to reach his garage.

Maria's possession of that strip is being disturbed by someone holding a lawful recorded claim, which is precisely what the covenant of quiet and peaceable possession in RCW 64.04.030 addresses. Because Dale conveyed by statutory warranty deed, the duty to defend the title runs back to him. Maria tenders the claim, and $6,200 in legal fees goes into establishing the easement's scope rather than coming out of Maria's pocket alone.

Swap one document and the result flips. Had Dale conveyed by quitclaim under RCW 64.04.050, Maria would have received only the interest Dale held, easement and all, with no covenant behind it and no grantor to tender the claim to. Same house, same easement, different deed, entirely different position.

Common Mistakes and Exam Traps

• Quiet enjoyment concerns lawful claims to possession, not noise or an irritating neighbor. Noise is a nuisance question and it is scored separately.
• The deed covenant and the lease covenant are different promises between different parties. Read the question for which relationship is in play.
• A quitclaim deed transfers whatever the grantor has but carries no covenant of quiet enjoyment, so the grantee has no one to look to when a superior claim surfaces.
• In Washington a landlord may not remove or exclude a tenant except under a court order, so a self-help lockout is a direct violation of RCW 59.18.290.