A court rule issued by the Washington Supreme Court continues the first hearing in eviction cases. The rationale of this Supreme Court rule is to foster the tenant’s right to an attorney at no cost.

This is very frustrating for landlords, as they are not being paid rent and the process seems to drag on forever, but this Supreme Court rule is binding on local courts.

No, not exactly.

A statutory repayment plan is required as the first step in a residential nonpayment eviction if any of the past-due rent accrued through April 2023 (regardless of whether the notice was served after April 2023).

Yes, the language matters and the court may dismiss your eviction case on procedural grounds–no matter how deserving on the merits–if the language is wrong.

Some documents, such as the 14-day notice, must be in the exact verbiage required by statute. In some local jurisdictions additional specific language must be in the notice and/or additional documents must be served with it.

There are some multi-state websites that show up in Google results with form generators that create notice forms that will not hold up in Washington courts. We do not post forms for every situation or jurisdiction because the new laws vary and are not simple to implement. Consult with an attorney before serving documents.

Proper service of an eviction notice (pay rent or vacate, or etc.) requires someone to go to the rental property and knock on the door. While there are detailed instructions on serving eviction notices on this website, it is far wiser to have an attorney advise and assist with every step in the process.

It makes no difference whether the agreement was reduced to writing, or was only an oral agreement. If someone is paying you (or is supposed to pay you) to live in your property, you are a landlord and they are a tenant. All the eviction and landlord-tenant laws apply.

Ironically, in some situations it may be faster to evict a tenant than someone who lives in your property without an obligation to pay.