Tenant Refusing to Acknowledge New Property Manager

[Johnathan Swayne]

The rental is in Tacoma, WA. We have had a problematic tenant for some time, but back in Nov. 2021 we switched from managing directly to have a property manager take over. Our property manager was formally introduced to each tenant, the tenants were made aware of the switch, the existing leases were given over to the property manager, and the tenants were all given info on how to pay via the payment portal, send repair requests, contact property manager, etc. One of our tenants has seemingly chosen to completely ignore the existence of the PM and still operates as though they are under the management of the owner who originally signed the lease (the lease was a month to month at the time the PM took over, and the tenant was given a request to sign a new lease with the PM, but ignored it completely). For example, instead of paying through the management portal or giving a check to the PM they, without notice or permission, went to bank of the owner and had the clerk deposit a check into one of the owner's bank accounts at random for rent. As long as it had the owner's name on it, the tenant could legally just deposit the rent into it without our knowledge. Also, the tenant has been messaging the owner directly and not the PM. Back in Nov 2021 when the new PM was brought on they also delivered a 60 day notice to raise rent, which the tenant has completely ignored and the amount she is depositing directly into the owners account is less than actual rent, but because the check is made out to the owner the tellers at the bank just accept it even though legally we don't have to accept partial rent. 


Is it legal for her to ignore new property management and do these things to circumvent paying the new rent amount/force us to accept partial rent? Isn't it harassment if she continues to contact the owner directly?