Paint fumes drifting into a rented home can turn an ordinary tenancy into a question of health, safety and legal responsibility. In Redmond, Washington, tenant Eric Christiansen said fumes from an adjoining automobile-painting workshop made him ill and left his apartment uninhabitable. A trial court awarded him nearly $95,904 in damages after finding his landlords negligent and in violation of state landlord-tenant law. However, the Washington Court of Appeals, Division One, partly revised that outcome in an unpublished opinion issued on October 26, 2026, which does not constitute binding precedent. According to the ruling available on Justia, the court upheld $75,000 for physical pain and suffering and emotional distress but reversed the additional treble damages and ordered further proceedings on attorney fees.
Paint fumes affected the rented apartment
The dispute arose at a garage property owned by Larry Searles and associated with 938 164th Avenue, LLC. The facility in Redmond contained two apartments and an automobile workshop where Searles repaired and painted classic cars. Christiansen signed a two-year lease for one of the apartments on June 15, 2020. The other apartment was rented to Marshall Johnson, who worked as an automobile painter in the workshop. Although the workshop had a ventilation system and a paint booth, fumes and airborne particulates frequently accumulated when Johnson carried out painting work.Christiansen noticed the fumes entering his apartment on multiple occasions and began experiencing illness, physical pain and distress. On August 14, 2020, he complained to Searles that the fumes were making him sick. Three days later, Searles told him he would not be held to the lease if he wanted to leave. Christiansen also contacted King County about the conditions. On September 8, a county code enforcement officer inspected the property and determined that it was uninhabitable because of paint fumes and particulates in the air. The officer also identified missing occupancy permits. Both tenants were subsequently evicted, and Christiansen struggled to find alternative accommodation, affecting his eating habits and access to his mail.
Trial court awarded nearly $95,904
Christiansen sued Searles and the associated company, alleging negligence based on a breach of the implied warranty of habitability and violations of Washington’s Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. Following a bench trial, the court found the defendants negligent and in violation of the legislation. It awarded Christiansen $25,000 for pain and suffering caused by physical illness and $50,000 for emotional distress, bringing the negligence damages to $75,000.The court separately calculated his actual damages under the landlord-tenant law at $6,967.99. It trebled that amount, producing an additional award of $20,903.97. Together, the two awards totalled $95,903.97, or approximately $95,904. The court also awarded reasonable attorney fees and litigation costs, to be determined separately. Christiansen initially sought nearly $98,465 in attorney fees but reduced his request to $76,710 after conceding certain objections raised by the defendants.
Appeals court upheld physical and emotional distress damages
Searles and the company challenged the damages award, arguing that Christiansen should not have received compensation for emotional distress without objective medical evidence of his symptoms. The appeals court rejected that argument. It explained that Washington law permits recovery for emotional distress accompanying a physical injury. The requirement for objective symptomatology, which generally applies to certain emotional distress claims without physical injury, did not apply in the same way here.The trial court had found that Christiansen experienced illness, including an upset stomach, after exposure to the fumes. Its findings also recorded his physical pain and emotional distress, supported by his credible testimony. Because those findings were not challenged on appeal, the appellate court accepted them. It concluded that the established physical illness meant Christiansen did not have to demonstrate objective symptomatology to recover the $50,000 emotional distress award. The $25,000 for physical pain and suffering also remained intact.
Treble damages reversed, fee award sent back
The court reached a different conclusion on the additional damages awarded under the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act. The relevant provision permits treble damages when a landlord knowingly violates specified statutory requirements, including conditions relating to the rental property’s habitability. The appeals court found that the award could not stand because the statute required prior government notice that the dwelling had been condemned or was unlawful to occupy. Although Searles had avoided the permitting process during renovations, the record showed that no government entity had notified him of a relevant violation before he leased the apartment to Christiansen.The trial court had reasoned that notice was unnecessary because the landlord had deliberately avoided government authorities. The appeals court nevertheless reversed the treble damages award under the applicable statutory requirements. It also vacated the attorney fee award because the trial court had not provided sufficiently detailed findings and conclusions explaining its decision. The case was remanded for further proceedings, including a clearer explanation of the basis for attorney fees. The appeals court also denied Christiansen’s request for attorney fees and costs on appeal.The ruling therefore preserved Christiansen’s $75,000 award for physical pain and emotional distress while removing the additional $20,903.97 in treble damages. The fee issue remains subject to further proceedings in the trial court.