Archive for the ‘Washington Landlord Tenant Law’ Category
Bad Form – Failure to Serve a Summons with Mandatoy Language Proves Costly for Landlord
July 27th, 2007 | 
Author: Our law firm was not involved in the lawsuit described in this article.
On June 8, 2006, I wrote in an article posted on this site about the new summons for residential unlawful detainer actions in Washington. In that article I wrote:
Amendments to the Washington Residential Landlord-Tenant Act went into effect yesterday….It is unclear what…courts will do when inevitably many landlord plaintiffs – acting pro se or with attorneys not familiar with the new law – come into court having served the old eviction summons.
A decision published last month by Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals held that a landlord had wrongfully evicted a tenant because the landlord’s attorney had caused the tenant to be served with an older version of the eviction summons. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in 
New Eviction Summons Form
Amendments to the Washington Residential Landlord-Tenant Act went into effect yesterday. The new law changes mandatory language in one form of eviction summons. Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Reefer Madness
It is legal in Washington to possess and use marijuana for medicinal purposes with the approval of a doctor. Recently in King County a landlord attempted to evict a tenant because of drug possession and use.
At a show cause hearing the court set the matter for trial, rather than granting the landlord the eviction. The tenant did not deny possession or use of illegal substances, but cited medical use as a defense. The court reasoned that the issue of whether the amounts of marijuana in question were appropriate for personal medicinal use should be heard at a trial, not a summary proceeding such as a show cause hearing.
Trying the case will cost the landlord considerably more in attorney fees and time, with no guarantee he will prevail.
The case illustrates the point that although the landlord wins the majority of eviction cases, evictions, like any litigation, may take unpredictable turns. Also, it is worth noting that had the landlord screened for medical marijuana status, failure to lease to the tenant without other legitimate grounds would likely be a failure to make a reasonable accommodation.
This was not one of our cases. An attorney arguing a show cause hearing for our firm sat through it. Nevertheless, to try to avoid trial in the future we will take this case into account.
To learn more about evicting tenants who are toking away, or other landlord-tenant issues, feel free to contact us at 425-641-8010, 888-88-EVICT (888-883-8428), or visit our website at www.accessevictions.com.
Access Evictions is owned and operated by Scott Eller, a rental property owner and experienced real estate attorney. Mr. Eller is a member of the King County Bar Association Real Property, Probate, and Trust law Section and has extensive experience in real property matters.
