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Landlord and Tenant; Evictions

We handle landlord and tenant matters for either the landlord or for the tenant.

Evictions are typically governed by RCW 59.12 regarding unlawful detainer actions and RCW 59.18, the Residential Landlord/ Tenant Act (RLTA). However, some rental situations involve mobile homes or manufactured homes that are in mobile home parks and are thus regulated by RCW 59.20, the Residential Mobile Home Landlord/ Tenant Act.

The procedures for evicting a tenant are highly detailed and are better to be handled by an attorney, though we can work with you to keep the costs low. The eviction for a landlord requires that notice be given to the tenant prior to filing suit with the court. These notices can either be a 3 day notice to pay rent or vacate, a 10 day notice to comply with the rental agreement or vacate, or most commonly what is called a 20 day notice to end a month to month rental. If there is any procedural defect in the notice or method that the notice is delivered to the tenant, it can prevent the eviction from proceeding. That is only one of many technical issues that can prevent the landlord from legally and successfully getting a tenant out of a rental unit and thus legal consultation & advocacy is highly recommended.

Please give us a call if you want to defend against an eviction or if you would like us to help you with an eviction. Either way, we can help you to make sure that you protect your legal rights and are compliant with all of your legal obligations. We can also provide you with valuable advise about your current rental agreement to avoid future problems regarding rental arrangements.

Typically for an eviction we will require $1000-$1500 as an advance deposit, but the cost could be less or more depending on how the circumstances evolve. The actual eviction process typically is resolved within several weeks to a month, but can extend beyond that if there are complications.