The Handlins applied to rent an apartment. They were turned down because a tenant screening report showed a previous eviction. The Handlins provided information showing that the previous eviction case had been resolved in their favor. The credit reporting agency corrected the report. The Handlins were still turned down for the apartment they wanted. The Handlins requested a copy of their report via the credit reporting agency’s website. They wanted to know what additional negative information kept them from getting the apartment they wanted. When they did not get a response, they sent the request through an attorney by email, […]
Travis Eller
113 posts
Any LLC or corporation appearing as a party in a lawsuit must be represented by an attorney. A non-lawyer cannot represent a professional services corporation, even if he or she is the corporation’s sole director, officer, and shareholder. This rule applies in eviction cases (a.k.a. unlawful detainer actions), and applies whether the property is commercial or residential. The Washington Court of Appeals applied this rule a couple of years ago.[1] A dentist and his commercial landlord were in a long-standing dispute over common area maintenance charges. The commercial landlord served a notice to pay rent or vacate then brought an […]
Pham, a Seattle residential landlord, bought a rental property at foreclosure. It was metered for five units, so he assumed it was properly permitted for five living units. It turned out that the building was only permitted as a triplex. Pham rented Unit 5 to Corbett and Morgan. The tenants often paid rent late or in installments. The tenants complained to the landlord about the rental unit’s condition, including rats, a lack of railings on an outside deck, and leaking water/sewage issues. The tenants stopped paying rent after the lease ended, but remained in possession. The landlord served a notice […]
A woman took out a mortgage on her home in Burien, Washington.[1] She lived in her home and also in it operated an adult family home. A few years later she was behind on payments. Her lender began the foreclosure process. She successfully negotiated a loan modification, the terms of which required her to make a certain $10,000 payment. She made the payment. Despite the fact that the homeowner made the agreed $10,000 payment, the trustee continued the foreclosure sale anyway at the direction of the lender. The homeowner arrived home one day and was handed the notice […]
A tenant and her landlords disputed certain conditions in the property. The landlords believed the tenant was allowing damage to the property by improperly leaving windows open. When the tenant requested certain repairs, the landlords while in the property making the unrelated repairs nailed a window shut and disabled another window so that it could only be opened a few inches. Eventually, the landlords brought an eviction against the tenant. The tenant made counterclaims. The tenant moved out while the eviction was pending. The trial court moved the case to the Mandatory Arbitration calendar. The landlords’ attorney withdrew, […]
After several unsuccessful attempts to personally serve a tenant with a summons and complaint, the landlord got a court order allowing service. The landlord then had a process server post and mail the summons and complaint along with a notice requiring the tenant to either pay rent into the court registry or serve a sworn statement that no rent is owing. The tenant served the landlord attorney’s office with a response to the eviction complaint, but did not deny rent was owed and did not pay rent into the court registry. The landlord moved for a writ of restitution. The […]
Court of Appeals rules on commercial lease dispute. Commercial tenant Outloud Entertainment Group, Inc. rented two spaces from its commercial landlord Group 44, Inc.—one rental space in Seattle and the other in Tacoma. Tenant Outloud operated dueling piano bars in the spaces. The commercial lease required tenant Outloud to pay base rent plus monthly assessments for taxes, insurance, and maintenance. Ebony Keys, LLC entered into an agreement to buy the piano bar in Tacoma from Outloud. As part of the business purchase, Outloud provided a copy of its lease with landlord Group 44—but did not include the addendum referencing the […]
A landlord and tenant entered into a commercial lease. The landlord required an additional signer as security. The lease expired. The tenants were current on the rent at the time the lease expired. The tenants stayed in possession and began a month-to-month tenancy. The tenants soon fell behind on rent, a moved out after several months, owing $8,709.12 in unpaid rent. The landlord assigned its right to the delinquent rent to a collections agent, who in turn sued the co-signer. In a bench trial, the trial court ruled in favor of the co-signer. The collections agent appealed. The Washington State […]
To start an eviction lawsuit in Washington (a.k.a. an unlawful detainer action) the landlord must first serve applicable notices such as a notice to pay rent or vacate, comply or vacate, or a notice to terminate a month to month tenancy. Next, the landlord must serve a summons and a complaint. The same type of documents are the starting point in any lawsuit—although the exact content of course varies in evictions from other types of lawsuits. The same strict rules about how to serve the summons and complaint applies in evictions as in other lawsuits, essentially requiring that a disinterested […]
The buyer of a house at a foreclosure auction is generally entitled to possession twenty days after the foreclosure sale, but with protections of tenants of the former owner under both state and federal laws. If the occupants to not vacate, the buyer may evict via an unlawful detainer action the occupants of the foreclosed property. A recent Washington Supreme Court case clarified that attorney fees are not available in a post-foreclosure eviction action.[1] If you have purchased a foreclosed property that has occupants, and have questions about obtaining possession – contact our law firm for a free initial […]