Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Washington

unwanted visitor

My friend lives in the basement of a house w/4 bedrooms. All taken, a guy that used to live there got out of jail comes under pretense of picking up his stuff, but never left. It's been 4 months. He breaks into the other bedrooms, brings people over who steal, yells, threatens, and has physically struck one person. Everyone is scared of him.

Where do we find the laws to get him out and keep him out? The landlord is afraid of him too.


Asked on 4/12/07, 5:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Elizabeth Powell ELizabeth Powell PS Inc

Re: unwanted visitor

Well, he's arguably a tenant if he's been there for four months. I would play it right by the book and give him a 20 day notice of termination of tenancy.

The landlord could also do a 3-day notice of trespass but if the tenant lawyered up and argued, it could take even longer, and you'd have to be prepared to try the case, which would cost a great deal of money and energy.

Safest bet is a 20-day notice of intent to end the tenancy.

Unfortunately, its now the 12th, so your notice cannot be effective until the end of May.

If the other tenants are scared of this guy, they should tell the landlord in writing and then leave. There is a section in the RLTA that addresses this.

The landlord has to get over his fear and protect his other tenants and his property.

The laws about residential tenancies are found at RCW 59 18 020 et seq. Seattle has additional code requirements.

Hope this helps - ELizabeth Powell

Read more
Answered on 4/12/07, 5:41 pm


Related Questions & Answers

More Landlord & Tenants questions and answers in Washington