September 25th 2007
Eviction at Will?
Evictions may seem slow and expensive to a landlord who is not receiving rent, but as litigation goes, a typical eviction is cheap and moves at light speed.
Evictions are brought under statutes that provide very specific procedures that must be followed meticulously by the landlord. Under current law only six situations qualify for this expedited process.
A tenancy at will is not one of them. A tenancy at will arises when someone occupies the real property of another with permission but without an obligation to pay rent and terminable at any time by the landowner.
Current case law holds, for example, that an employee who is provided housing as part of the compensation for work and who pays no rent is a tenant at will. Probably also included are situations in which a friend or relative is allowed to live free of rent in a property or mother-in-law apartment.
Such cases cannot be brought under eviction statutes but instead must be brought under a common law ejectment lawsuit, which is a much slower and more expensive process. Thus, rather counter-intuitively, under current law it is more difficult to regain possession of property in a tenancy at will situation than for a garden variety landlord-tenant situation.
The employment case mentioned above was decided in 1978. Since then there have been attempts from time to time to amend the statute. The most recent bill would allow a landowner to give a twenty day notice to anyone who occupies the landowner’s property “without denominated periodic tenancy or denominated rental amount or ownership interest”. The bill excludes agricultural workers.
As always, for advice about your particular circumstances contact an attorney.
Scott Eller
Washington Landlord-Tenant Attorney
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