Legal Question in Civil Rights Law in Washington

My room mate is trying to screw me over

Well it started like this.. our rent is 850, she said she would only have 325 and thats with electric.. *our electric was suppose to be shut off june 7th its like 240 dollars or something.. So I said she needs 425 for rent and atleast 100 dollars on the electric bill.. She said that she only has 325 for both.. And im like no.. we are going to get evicted.. basically she wanted me to pay more.. I stepped in finally and said no.. then she was like ''you and suzy *shes not on the lease just was there helping with rent for a few months* need to get out your stuff will be outside and that she is changing the locks. And that her bf is going to pay the full rent we just need to leave.. Well I am on the lease and so is the psycho! so i dont see how she can do this. Well I get a call all of a sudden saying that I need to be served papers.. She went psycho and said i was harassing her or yelling at her to the cops and they put a no contact order on me. So I can't go back there.. I have all the text messages I sent her and witnesses when i talked to her on the phone.. but like I talked to my landlord and he said I still have to pay rent still, even though she paid the full 850 he is still keeping my 450.


Asked on 6/08/09, 2:41 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir John Showrai The Pacific Law Firm, PLLC

Re: My room mate is trying to screw me over

Although you don't come out and ask, I am going to guess that your question is what are your rights in this situation. If so, here are my thoughts, which you should not take as legal advice, given that I have not seen any of the documents you were served with. Ultimately, you would be best served to get legal representation, which you can get at no cost through a local legal services office. To get information for such places near you, I recommend you get in touch with the Washington State Bar Association (you can find them on the web) and they will at least point you in the right direction.

In the meantime, you need to deal with the protection order by filing a written response by the due date, which is provided for by local court rules in the county you are located in. Go to the county's superior court web page and there you will find a link for the local rules telling you by what date you need to file a response. If it's a district court anti-harassment order, use the local district court rules or the state rule if there are no local rules.

Bottom line, you will file a declaration spelling out your story that responds to what has been said about you in the declaration you were served with along with the ex parte no contact order. Your court date should be within two weeks of your being served. Make sure that after you file your response, that you mail a copy by certified mail to your roommate as well.

Next, go to court on the day and time assigned and there you will each present your side to a judge. If you have a low cost or free attorney, they will attend with you. At that point, the judge or court commissioner hearing the case will decide if continuing the emergency no contact order is necessary or if it should be terminated or modified to remain in effect, albeit with different restrictions.

I would expect that if you are ordered out, the court will also order your roommate to remain liable for the full $850.

Regarding your landlord keeping your $450, if that is because you owed for back rent, then the landlord is entitled to keep what was paid.

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Answered on 6/08/09, 3:01 am


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