[WSBARP] [WSBAPT] Probate eviction

[Nicholas Pleasants]

Hi Jon,
I recently had the same situation come up. Be careful in the language you use, because the holdover girlfriend is actually a “tenant at will” or “tenant at sufferance” even though they do not pay rent, and could be entitled to the protections of Chapters 59.12 RCW and 59.18 RCW. I would expect the 60-day notice needs to be served in the same manner as any other termination notice under RCW 59.12.040.
I have attached a handout from a recent KCBA CLE on the matter of what landlords should do when a tenant dies. See the section on Evicting Unwanted Guests.
Evictions are a highly technical area, and in my experience, it is better to refer out the eviction part of the probate to an attorney that regularly does evictions. Most experienced eviction firms can do the whole process for under $1,000 in legal fees, and I don’t want to make my clients pay me to relearn the eviction statutes every few years.
Since it is a 60 day notice, there may be a huge advantage to posting the notice today, if possible. Good luck!

Best,
Nick

Nicholas Pleasants
Pleasants Law Firm, P.S.
2300 130th Ave NE, Suite A-101
Bellevue, WA 98005-1755
(425) 615-7070 tel/fax
nick at pleasantslaw.com<mailto:nick at pleasantslaw.com>
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From: <wsbapt-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> on behalf of Jon Fritzler <FritzlerLaw at outlook.com>
Reply-To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Date: Wednesday, July 1, 2020 at 11:43 AM
To: WSBA Probate & Trust Listserv <wsbapt at lists.wsbarppt.com>, WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: [WSBAPT] Probate eviction

Decedent’s girlfriend is living in decedent’s residence, a mobile home that decedent owned along with the lot that it sits on. She was not paying rent so is not a tenant. I represent the personal representative who wants to sell the mobile home.  Inslee’s Proclamation 20-19.2 allows owners to enforce a notice to vacate if the owner plans to sell the property, after providing at least 60 days notice.

Questions:     Does anyone have an example of a notice to vacate to a non-tenant resident?
                        Does the notice have to be personally served on the resident in addition to being mailed?
                        What is the next step if the resident doesn’t vacate?

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Jon M. Fritzler
Attorney at Law
PO Box 61451
Vancouver, WA 98666
Tel. 360.818.4431
Eml fritzlerlaw at outlook.com<mailto:fritzlerlaw at outlook.com>

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