Washington Landlord Attorney

Recent changes in landlord-tenant law on the federal, state, and local levels have made the residential eviction process much more complex, nuanced, and hyper-technical.

Initial eviction notices. Landlords must comply with all applicable laws, beginning with the initial eviction notice (notice to pay rent or vacate, etc.). Failure to adhere to all legal requirements may be fatal to an eviction case. Even the failure to use bold font for a few words where required by statute may lead a court to dismiss an eviction. We recommend landlords retain an attorney at the very beginning of the process including drafting and serving the eviction notice.

No-cost tenant attorneys. Washington residential tenants have a legal right to an attorney at no cost. The tenant attorneys are knowledgeable in landlord-tenant law and often very effective in defending eviction cases, especially against unrepresented landlords or attorneys less experienced in landlord-tenant law. It is more important than ever to have an experienced landlord-tenant attorney in your corner from square one.

Does the exact language in the eviction notices matter? Will the judge really throw out my eviction case, even though the tenant owes me money, if I use the wrong form?

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.