Unlawful Detainer Show Cause Hearings in South King County Now 8 Months Out

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, booking a show cause hearing at the King County Superior Court in Kent took 4-6 weeks. Show cause hearings are the first step in the unlawful detainer (eviction) process in Washington State. However, the unlawful detainer process typically lasts at least another month after a show cause hearing before a judgment can be reached in court. By the time a writ of restitution is ordered and an appointment with the sheriff's office can be scheduled, several more months will have passed.

As of Thursday, March 7th, 2024, the next available Ex-Parte show cause hearing at the Superior Court in Kent is November 19th, over 8 months out! This means that if a resident stopped paying rent today (March 7th), by the time the housing provider served the required notices and filed the summons and complaint, the first court appearance for that case would most likely take place no earlier than 2025. During that time, the housing provider would not be able to take even partial payments for rent without risking their unlawful detainer case being thrown out.

This also means that a housing provider may have to wait a full year to receive a judgment on their case. Even when a housing provider receives a judgment, there is no guarantee that they will be compensated for any of the unpaid rent that had accumulated over the time it took for the unlawful detainer process to play out.

In our 23 years of operations, we have never seen such a long wait time to file an Ex-Parte show cause hearing in the King County Superior Court in Kent. Research shows that, although unlawful detainer cases have ramped up after pandemic-era protections were lifted in King County, the number of filings is still below pre-pandemic levels. The Court provided no explanation about this delay and did not respond to requests for comment.

Senator Mark Mullet ran a bill called SB 6210 during the 2024 legislative session in January which would have allowed attorneys to act as commissioners if the caseloads ever too overloaded. Public testimony for the bill included warnings that the system was already experiencing long wait times. SB 6210 was designed to prevent an overloading of the courts like we are now seeing, but it died in the Senate Housing Committee.

Significant Delay for Processing Pierce County Writs

Due to a shortage of personnel in the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, writs of restitution in Pierce County are facing a significant delay in being processed and posted. As of Friday, February 16th, the Pierce County Sheriff's Office has unprocessed writs that go back to January 24th. This delay has occurred as a result of understaffing in the Sheriff's Office, as two support staff have left their positions at the beginning of the year and only one Legal Assistant continues to process writs at the office. The Sheriff's Office anticipates bringing on new support staff team members in March.

As of February 16th, the Legal Assistant at the Pierce County Sheriff's Office has informed LandlordSolutions that she "can't even guess" when the Sheriff's Office will be able to address the backlog of writs. The recently passed Tacoma Landlord Fairness Code allows for a cold weather defense to evictions that protects most residents of rental housing from eviction between the dates of November 1st and April 1st. The Sheriff's Office is expected to receive hundreds of new writs once the cold weather eviction protections end on April 1st. When asked if the Sheriff's Office had a plan to deal with the influx of writs coming down the pipeline, the Legal Assistant admitted that the office did not have a plan to address all the new writs.

LandlordSolutions is putting clients on notice to expect significant delays in processing of new and pending writs in the coming months.

Jim Henderson Appears on KIRO7's Jesse Jones Show

Jim Henderson appeared on KIRO7's Jesse Jones Show that aired on February 11th, 2024.

Just like tenants, no landlord wants to go through an eviction. If we want to stop evictions and homelessness, we need to increase rental assistance.

Rental assistance is an equitable solution that keeps our senior, Veteran, and disabled neighbors housed.

Rental assistance should be the #1 priority for WA State lawmakers.

Best Practices for Properties Under the CARES Act

Under the CARES Act, any housing provider that received federal loan guarantees, such as a private mortgage backed by FNMA or FHLMC, or federal funds, such as housing vouchers, federal loans, or Section 8, must give any resident in their properties 30 days notice before being able to start any unlawful detainer or eviction process.

On January 9th, Division II of the Court of Appeals of the State of Washington found that a writ of restitution was wrongfully issued because a provider of public housing did not comply with CARES Act notice requirements when serving notices in this unlawful detainer case even though the unlawful detainer case was not started in connection with non-payment of rent. The unlawful detainer case was started because of material breaches in the terms of the resident's lease. The court ruled that the HUD's 30-day notice rules apply beyond late rent cases.

However, another case heard in Division I of the Court of Appeals has ruled that the CARES Act applies only to non-payment of rent cases. This means that unlawful detainer cases that are subject to the CARES Act will be handled differently between courts located in Washington State's Division I and Division II until the differences in the rulings can be reconciled.

Please visit HUD's Multifamily Housing Property Search database to check if your property has received federal loans, federal vouchers, or other federal funding. All Washington properties found in this database fall under the provisions of the CARES Act. Check the Court of Appeals Divisions of Washington map to find which jurisdiction your property falls under.

As of January 17th, 2024, LandlordSolutions and our attorneys recommend managers and owners of any properties that have received federal funds or federal loan guarantees in counties of Division II of the court of appeals to issue 30-day notices for unlawful detainer cases in connection with all unlawful detainer cases, not just those cases that deal with non-payment of rent. Please contact your legal counsel for additional details, such as the required CARES Act notice language that must appear on any 30-day notice to a CARES Act property.

Procedural Court Changes for Unlawful Detainer Cases in Pierce County

When a new law is passed, it initiates a transitional phase where courts embark on a process of interpretation and application, adapting their legal procedures and decisions to align with the new regulations. This process can lead to a variety of judicial decisions, as different Commissioners might interpret the law differently until a consensus or higher court ruling provides more definitive guidance. It's a dynamic period where the legal system molds itself around the new law, setting the stage for consistent application in future cases.

 

On 1/3/24, Pierce County Commissioner Terri Farmer’s interpretation of the Landlord Fairness Code (TMC 1.100) requires landlords to file additional documents for unlawful detainer cases. These requirements are effective immediately and subject to change without notice depending on a particular Commissioner’s interpretation of the law. All new documents must be filed prior to the first hearing.

  

Pierce County

 

Tacoma address outside Tacoma City Limits

 

Address within Tacoma City Limits:

 

For all clients currently in the process of unlawful detainer in Pierce County, our staff will reach out if we need additional information or a signed declaration. New unlawful detainer clients will be required to submit the above information during our intake process.

Olympia City Council Passes Rental Registration Law

Olympia's City Council has passed a Rental Registration and Inspection Program that will require owners to pay $35 per unit annually, which is the highest cost in the state for such a program. Here are the highlights:

Rent Control is Not the Answer to Washington’s Housing Shortage

Puget Sound residents agree that housing, homelessness, and safety are the most significant problems in our state in 2023. This should come as no surprise. People experiencing homelessness in Washington state reached 28,036 in January 2023, up 18% since 2020 despite an eviction moratorium during the pandemic. Murder has spiked 51% since 2019 to hit an all-time high in 2022, all during a suspension of misdemeanor laws, no police pursuit laws, and a general movement to defund the police.

The Washington State Department of Commerce researched the causes of homelessness and identified rising rents as the most significant factor that contributes to homelessness. This almost seems like political advocacy—if rising rents are to blame for homelessness, why don’t we just pass rent control to keep rents from going up? This blog post is a strong warning against rent control, which we believe will have the exact opposite effect than what is intended: rent control would increase rent prices and increase homelessness.

 

Rent Control Vs. Housing Supply

According to Washington’s Department of Commerce, rent increases primarily because of a housing supply shortage of 140K housing units to 225K housing units. The Department of Commerce reported that Washington state needs to build 1.1 million new housing units by 2043 to keep pace with demand, population growth, and immigration. If we want high-earning tech workers to move to Washington, we should expect an increase in demand. When more people compete to rent or buy the same units, prices go up. The highest earners will offer more for the rental and price everyone else out. That’s Economics 101.

We desperately need to increase the housing supply to avoid excessive rent increases and provide affordable housing to those in need! How do we increase the housing supply?

  1. Housing providers must be incentivized to maintain existing units.
  2. Developers must be incentivized to build new housing units. 
  3. Banks will only lend to developers if they can be paid back with interest.

 

The housing supply will start to decline if we don’t encourage people to build or maintain properties. Without proper market-rate rents, housing providers will have less funds to maintain older units, leading to their disrepair and eventual removal from the housing supply. If a refrigerator breaks and the housing provider doesn’t have the budget to buy a new one, they are forced to cannibalize a fridge from a vacant unit, taking that unit off the market. 

Apart from the profit motive, rising rents are also driven by many factors that housing providers can’t control. Inflation increases the cost of appliances and repairs (major appliance prices are up over 20% since March 2020). Rising wages increase the cost of maintenance. Changing interest rates influence the cost of credit and operating capital. If housing providers can’t keep up with their costs, they shut down and take their rentals off the market. Everyone loses.

Without the expectation of profit, no developer or bank will risk millions to fund the construction of new housing units. Not a single person in this market is building housing out of the kindness of their own heart. Banks make lending decisions based on analyzing the business behind the loan. If the business behind the loan won't generate the money to pay back the loan with interest, the loan will never be made. Human beings must be incentivized to take action. Without humans building new housing units and maintaining existing ones, the housing supply will drop, leading to higher rent prices and more people experiencing homelessness.

 

Policy Ideas to Help Grow Housing Supply

Apart from market forces, housing costs in Washington state have also risen due to high property taxes, insurance costs, and regulation. If we want to tackle the rising rent problem, we need policies that incentivize developers to build and make it easier for housing providers to keep existing rentals on the market. Property owners that have vacant or unused housing units should be incentivized to bring older housing supply back onto the market.

Policies that help incentivize housing supply growth include:

 

Further Reading:

Rent Control Won’t Fix the Housing Crisis” (Vox)

What Does Economic Evidence Tell Us About the Effects of Rent Control?” (Brooking Institute)

Rent Control, FAQs and Myths” (City of Seattle)

Why Rent Control Won’t Solve the Issue of High Rents in the US” (CNBC)

Rent Control is a Bad Idea That Doesn’t Cut Housing Costs” (Bloomberg)

The One Issue Every Economist Can Agree is Bad: Rent Control” (Washington Post)

Rent Control and Stabilization Policies: 4 Studies to Know” (Journalist Resource)

Examining the Unintended Consequences of Rent Control” (National Apartment Association)

Washington State’s Housing Affordability Crisis” (Office of Lieutenant Governor Denny Heck - 2021)

Housing Shortage Tracker” (National Association of Realtors)

Unlawful Detainers in Washington State

by David Britton

 

HOW THE UNLAWFUL DETAINER PROCESS WORKS IN WASHINGTON IN 2024, AND WHAT TO EXPECT AS AN UNLAWFUL DETAINER LITIGANT

Assuming you have consulted with us, or another licensed Washington attorney, and you know you have a “just cause” to evict your tenant under RCW 59.18.650(2)(a-p)[1], the following is a basic outline of how the eviction process will work in most counties, and what you will need to provide to assist your attorney in the process.

I will use an unlawful detainer for nonpayment of rent under RCW 59.18.650(2)(a), the most common type of eviction, as an example.  While the general discussion will be based on the current process in Pierce County Superior Court, most counties’ courts process these cases in a similar way and on similar timelines, based predominantly on State law.  City of Tacoma evictions will not be discussed here as they are covered in several other entries.

Predicate Notices.  What I refer to as “Predicate Notices” are the various types of notices that must be served on the tenant before you can file an unlawful detainer action in the courts.  They are sometimes referred to as “predicate” notices because in most cases the court’s jurisdiction over your unlawful detainer case is predicated on the proper and timely service of one of these notices.  There are almost as many types of predicate notice as there are “just causes” upon which an unlawful detainer action can be based.  Again, I will focus on nonpayment of rent.

The first notice that must be served on the tenant is a “Pay or Vacate” notice.  This has to provide at least 14 days’ notice to pay or vacate under RCW 59.18.650(2)(a), but due to a Federal law called the “CARES Act” which is being enforced by our State courts, you may have to serve a “30-Day Pay or Vacate” if your rental property is subject to a Federally backed mortgage, or your tenant receives any kind of Federal housing assistance.  You may also have to serve a “Repayment Plan Offer”[2] along with the Pay-or-Vacate, if you want to recover unpaid rent that accrued prior to April 1, 2023.  And all these notices have to be served in strict compliance with RCW 59.12.040, generally by posting the notice(s) on the premises and also mailing them to the tenant from a location in the same County where the property is located.  I strongly advise consulting with LandlordSolutions on which notice to use, and how to get it served. The “time, place, and manner” requirements for serving a predicate notice have to be strictly observed: any flaw can cause your subsequent unlawful detainer case to be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.

There are other technical requirements for the content of the notice, but one thing to remember is that you must list separately each month for which rent is unpaid, and the unpaid amount for that month.  During the 14- or 30-day notice period, the tenant has the chance to repay all of the rent and other permissible charges listed in the Pay or Vacate notice.  If the tenant repays the listed amount in full before the 14- or 30-day notice period expires, their lease is reinstated and the unlawful detainer process is over (at least for the time being).  You do not have to accept partial payments, and we advise that you don’t, as it will likely be interpreted as acceptance of partial performance that reinstates the lease and invalidates the notice.  See RCW 59.18.190.

It would have been, if not easy, at least feasible, to do all of this yourself, as recently as five years ago.  I would not advise doing so now.

Filing the Eviction Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer.  Here again, it is advisable to either retain a licensed attorney or use a service like LandlordSolutions that can provide the services of a licensed attorney when they become necessary.  The Summons in particular contains mandatory language that must be included in the Summons.

The Eviction Summons and Complaint for Unlawful detainer can only be filed and served on the tenant after the 14- or 30-day notice period has expired and the tenant has failed to either pay in full the rent specified in the notice or vacate the premises.  These pleadings must be filed in the Superior Court, and personally served on the tenants, to start the action.  You are strongly advised to use a professional process server, or a service such as LandlordSolutions that takes care of all of these details.  I am not just giving this advice for commercial purposes.  This stuff is complicated.

The Show Cause Hearing.  In most jurisdictions it is still possible to obtain a default judgment and writ of restitution if the tenant completely fails to respond in any way to the Summons and Complaint, but in the age of assigned counsel for indigent tenants this has become more of a rare occurrence, and there are some jurisdictions that will not let you get a judgment or a writ at all without a Show Cause hearing.  The Show Cause Hearing is generally held before a court commissioner and is based upon an Order you obtain from the court and serve on the tenant, directing the tenant to appear in court on the date, time and place of the hearing, to “show cause, if any they have, why a writ of restitution should not issue.”

An Order to Show Cause is typically issued by the court’s ex parte department, since the landlord is entitled to the order as a matter of law upon showing that the tenant has been properly and timely served with the proper predicate notice(s) (see above).  It can be applied for at the time the Summons and Complaint are filed, and served together with the Summons and Complaint, but landlords often wait to see whether or not the tenant defaults and serve the Order to Show Cause separately.  The Show Cause hearing must also be noted for the commissioner’s hearing calendar the same way other civil motions are noted; this Note for Commissioner’s Calendar is then served on the tenant along with the Order to Show Cause.  The Show Cause hearing must be noted for a date that will fall between 7 and 30 days after the Order to Show Cause is served on the tenant; it’s best to allow at least three additional days for service of the Order.

As you can see, we are already somewhere between 21 and 60 days out from first serving the tenant with the predicate notices.

At the first Show Cause hearing, the tenant will typically be screened by assigned counsel to see if they qualify for free legal representation.  Because they usually do, the court will usually continue the Show Cause hearing to allow assigned counsel to appear and review the tenant’s case.  The length of the setover period between the first and second (setover) Show Cause hearings can vary greatly by County.  Here in Pierce County, Show Cause hearings are generally being set over about three weeks, maybe a little less.  In King County, Show Cause hearings are being set over for a second hearing in another 2 to 3 months.  I wish I were joking.

On the bright side, here at the end of 2023, these cases are typically being resolved one way or another (usually by settlement) at the second Show Cause hearing.  At this time last year, mainly due to State-law mediation requirements and other provisions that have since sunsetted, it was typical to have 3, 4, or even 5 setover Show Cause hearings, adding up to delays of 2 or 3 months.

What the Landlord (or Property Manager) Needs to Provide for the Show Cause Hearing.  As part of the process, we generally ask landlords to provide a copy of their lease agreement and rent ledgers at the very beginning of the eviction process.  The property owner or property manager must also be present (usually on the Zoom platform) at the Show Cause hearing.  At the hearing, the landlord’s attorney will take brief testimony directly from the property owner, or the property manager who actually deals with the property/tenants, to establish the following: (1) your familiarity with the property, the tenants, and their lease history; (2) who the tenants are; (3) how long they have been leasing the property; (4) the current monthly rent; (5) whether the defendant tenants are current on their rent [the answer should ne “no”]; (6) which months’ rent have not been paid; (7) whether the tenants have made any partial payments during that delinquency period; and (8) whether the tenants are still residing in the leased premises.

Two things you need to do to prepare for the Show Cause Hearing: (1) please, please review your rental records before the hearing, so you are familiar with the tenancy and can answer the above 8 questions without having to study a computer screen and look like you are not in fact familiar with the tenancy and cannot answer the 8 questions; and (2) check the property 1-2 days before the hearing and make sure the tenant is in fact still living in the unit.

Judgment, Order, and Issuance of Writ of Restitution.  If all goes reasonably well at the Show Cause hearing, and assigned counsel do not raise (or, anyway, do not succeed with) any procedural or substantive defenses, (these change nearly every month, but they don’t raise them in every case), the court will enter a Judgment for any back rent[3] and an Order to issue a Writ of Restitution.  The Writ is issued by the Clerk’s Office and must then be taken over to the Sheriff’s Office for service on the tenant, and, eventually, execution (i.e., physical eviction).  In most parts of Pierce County, a Writ that goes out for service today will result in a physical eviction roughly 6 or 7 weeks from now.  These Sheriff’s “backlogs” vary widely by County, as you can probably imagine.

While all this information can vary greatly depending on what County you are in, hopefully this gives you some idea of what an unlawful detainer looks like in the State of Washington in 2024.  Of course, the Legislature is preparing for another session as you read this, and there is a good chance that landlord-tenant law in Washington will change again in significant ways come next July 1.  Watch this site for any new developments.

 

Notes:

[1] An unlawful detainer may also be based on the so-called “no cause” eviction provisions of RCW 59.18.650(1), mostly having to do with the expiration of a term lease agreement, or RCW 59.12.030(6), for a non-tenant who moved into the unit without permission, or a few other causes which will not be discussed here.

[2] See RCW 59.18.630.

[3] Unless it was not possible to personally serve the tenant, in which case any money judgment will be reserved and may be pursued separately after the unlawful detainer proceeding.

LandlordSolutions Holiday Hours 2023/2024

 

Happy Holidays from LandlordSolutions!

 

'Tis the season to be jolly and celebrate the holidays with friends and family! 🎉

 

In observance of Christmas 🎄 and for the big countdown to 2024 🕛 ,

LandlordSolutions office will be closed on the following days:

 

🎁  Monday, December 25th, 2023  🎄
Closed

🎉  Monday, January 1st, 2024  🍾
Closed

 

Wishing you and yours the merriest of holidays and a fantastic New Year!  🌟

Stay safe and enjoy the festive season in good health  ✅

Warmest holiday cheers!