[WSBAPT] Ejectment Action - Pierce County

Wed Feb 16 15:34:58 PST 2022

Hi All,

Landlord-tenant attorney here. I’ve received several forwarded emails from this listserv. I thought I’d share what I can.

In my experience, courts are very reluctant to evict an errant family member refusing to leave, especially when the family member claims an ownership interest in the premises. It doesn’t matter if the ownership claim is bogus—the courts will seemingly use any excuse to say no to an eviction and set the matter over for trial.

Therefore, cash for keys should usually be a landlord’s primary strategy, especially with an unusual fact pattern. We’ve recently had some luck with obtaining rental assistance for delinquent tenants and then using some of the assistance funds to pay the tenant to leave. That may be a strategy worth considering for cash-poor estates, even if the inhabitant was a family member, because rental assistance seems to be pretty flexible on its definition of “tenant.” However, you need to be careful about how you structure the settlement/termination of tenancy agreement, since usually one of the conditions of rental assistance is that the landlord can’t terminate the tenancy for six months.

If the inhabitant is a bona fide squatter or trespasser, then the landlord may also want to consider locking the inhabitant out. Obviously there are risks associated with this strategy if there’s any argument the inhabitant has a legal right to occupy the premises, so this strategy should never be used for actual tenants or anyone with a non-frivolous claim of ownership.

If the above two strategies don’t work or aren’t available, your client will have to try an eviction and/or ejectment action against the inhabitant. An ejectment action is the only way to go if the inhabitant can be characterized as a tenant at will (i.e. the inhabitant was initially permitted to stay at the premises in exchange for irregular or unusual compensation, but overstayed their welcome). However, an eviction action may be more appropriate and faster depending on the specific facts. See attached handout for complete list of allowable “causes” to evict for residential tenants (commercial is totally different).

In an eviction, the best case scenario is that your client obtains a default judgment. To obtain a default, first your client will need to issue the appropriate notice (3-120 days). After the notice period expires, your client can commence a lawsuit. From initiation of the lawsuit to the physical eviction usually takes about a month—one week to wait for the eviction summons to expire; 2-3 weeks for the sheriff to post the writ and schedule the physical eviction.

Again, I cannot overstate the extent to which King and Pierce County courts favor tenants. I could tell you stories you wouldn’t believe. Suffice to say, if your client has an unusual fact pattern (like an errant family member), your client should explore all the options short of eviction or ejectment. I hope this helps.

Best,

Clinton Brink
     Attorney

T  253.620.6577
F  253.620.6565

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Jennifer L White
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2022 12:24 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBAPT] Ejectment Action - Pierce County

Please post responses to the list. I’ve got a probate with one of those too. My client (PR) went and had a consultation with a LL/T attorney, who advised her to do a cash for keys deal with the errant relative. Client comes back to me with that information, and when I asked where they were going to get the cash, I got a long silence in response……

Jennifer L. White, Esq.

jen at appletreelaw.com<mailto:jen at appletreelaw.com>
PO Box 11037
Yakima, WA 98909
509.225.9813

From: wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of Amy Goertz
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2022 12:13 PM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Ejectment Action - Pierce County

As some of you may recall from a previous post to this list serve, I have an estate in Pierce County in which the beneficiary needs to be removed from the house so that the house can be sold to satisfy creditors. You may rest assured that he is not going to cooperate in this endeavor unless someone is outstandingly charming and convincing.

I will need an attorney who specializes in this area of practice to accomplish this. The estate has no money and will not have any money until the beneficiary is removed and the house sold.

Any thoughts on who might be willing to help with this challenge and wait to be paid until the sale of the home?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions -

Amy

Amy J. Goertz, J.D.
Goertz & Lambrecht PLLC
amyjgoertz at icloud.com<mailto:amyjgoertz at icloud.com>

1.888.926.2607 phone
1.877.684.1627 fax
Address for correspondence:
2829 S. Grand Blvd., Suite 303
Spokane, WA 99203

Additional office locations:
510 Bell Street
Edmonds, WA 98020

Goertz & Lambrecht PLLC
www.goertzlambrecht.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.goertzlambrecht.com_&d=DwMFAg&c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&r=kDcM-fraYQNOZ1rCslLoMSSRXJQXmQVvRJbE6ymQGho&m=y9bk9R6lQv8a4kue2q1pt7ZtUQ0QXn6GxJKMFgixOKk&s=hGf-6eCjwI02tZ0bxca-FLxd-wWxZ7lPg1SK_UtAOdo&e=>

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