Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

Re: Eviction

Oh dear. This is a mess. In WA (I'm predicating this answer on the assumption that your real property is located in WA) even a trespasser is entitled to notice before you commence an unlawful detainer. RCW 59.12.030 - I think it is subs. 6

The first rule of landlord/tenant here is NEVER enter into an agreement such as what you describe.

Since that has all ready happened, out of an abundance of caution you should treat him as if he was a tenant.

Because he's a tenant you give him a 3-day notice to pay rent or vacate. There is a proper way to do this and if you mess it up you have to start over from scratch. Don't accept any rent either. I Know that you do not have an agreement that provides he's paying you rent. That isn't the point.

To be safe I'd serve a 20-day notice of termination of tenancy as well, for back up.

Once the three days elapses (not counting weekends or holidays) you can have a process server serve him with a summons and complaint and an order to show cause requiring him to appear in court on a particular day and show what reason the court should not issue a writ and sign a judgment.

Your process server has to advise the court regarding the service. If that is not on file when you appear you will lose.

Then, you have a day in court. There are all sorts of local and state court rules about how you do this and if you do it incorrectly you have to start again - from scratch.

At the conclusion of your hearing the judicial officer will probably issue a writ and sign a judgment. Depends on a few things, and it is best not to make assumptions.

Then, the writ has to sit for three judicial days. At the end of that time period, if he has STILL not moved out, you have to call the sheriff and schedule the eviction. How long that takes depends on how busy the sheriff is. If he's real busy it will take longer.

It is up to you to schedule the eviction and provide the manpower to do the physical move. If your workers are not there and prepared to place the tenant's personal property on the nearest public road with tarps covering it when the sheriff arrives, the sheriff will leave and you have to start over with a new writ (unless you provided for this eventuality in your writ).

Yes, this is almost as much of a pain as it sounds. There are lawyers who specialize in evictions. The other lawyers who promise you they can handle it are lying. They are the landlords against whom I take judgments for the defendants because they screwed up. This is either done correctly or it is messed up, and if messed up it takes a lot longer and you can potentially be liable for the tenant's attorney fees.

If this is happening in western WA you can call me and I can give you some referrals. John Woodring's office in Olympia is pretty good, and they are the furthest south I know of.

Elizabeth Powell