Posts Tagged ‘eviction notice’
Court of Appeals Upholds Late Fees in 3-Day Notice
December 8th, 2009 | 
Author: Our law firm was not involved in the lawsuit described in this article.
Under Washington unlawful detainer law the landlord should not demand non-rent items on the three-day notice to pay rent or vacate. This is because the tenants is entitled to at least 10 days to cure any non-rent breach of the lease. Read the rest of this entry »
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Eviction Notices Must be Mailed from the Same County
The Washington Court of Appeals issued an unpublished opinion today on an unlawful detainer case in which one of the issues raised on appeal was that the declaration of service for the notice to pay rent or vacate did not indicate that the notice was mailed from the same county. Read the rest of this entry »
Court of Appeals Reverses Eviction on Improper Service of Eviction Notice
Our law firm was not involved in the lawsuit described in this article.
Yesterday the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the tenant on an appeal from an eviction case and held that service of the notice to pay rent or vacate was improper.
The landlord served only one copy of the notice to two tenants. Even though the tenants were a married couple and even though the husband handed the notice to the wife in the presence of the landlord the service of the notice was held invalid.
It is important to note that it was undisputed that both tenants actually received the notice. Nevertheless because the manner of service did not strictly comply with the statute the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court and awarded attorney’s fees.
The landlord lost the case and will face paying both sides’ attorney fees for both the trial court and the appeal. This will easily run into thousands of dollars.
The time and manner of service for eviction notices is strictly construed against the landlord. Service is not synonymous with actual receipt. A landlord is well advised to either retain an attorney or contact an attorney before serving notices.
Accepting Rent After Notice to Terminate Tenancy
A recent published Court of Appeals unlawful detainer case ruled on the issue of whether a landlord may accept rent after service of a notice terminating a month to month tenancy.[1] The court ruled that the landlord may accept such payments without waiving the notice. Read the rest of this entry »
