[WSBARP] Evictions and "Statutory Attorney Fees"

[Roger Hawkes]

The $200 is not 'attorney fees'; it is costs; by definition.

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> On Behalf Of Paul Neumiller
Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 1:53 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Evictions and "Statutory Attorney Fees"

BUT BUT BUT,

RCW 4.84.080 says "When allowed to either party, costs to be called the attorney fee, shall be as follows:  (1) In all actions where judgment is rendered, two hundred dollars." And RCW 4.84.010 says "The measure and mode of compensation of attorneys and counselors, shall be left to the agreement, expressed or implied, of the parties, but there shall be allowed to the prevailing party upon the judgment certain sums for the prevailing party's expenses in the action, which allowances are termed costs, including, in addition to costs otherwise authorized by law, the following expenses:....(6) Statutory attorney and witness fees"

AND RCW 59.18.290 says "....Where the court has entered a judgment in favor of the landlord restoring possession of the property to the landlord, the court may award reasonable attorneys' fees to the landlord; however, the court shall not award attorneys' fees in the following instances:
(a) If the judgment for possession is entered after the tenant failed to respond to a pleading or other notice requiring a response authorized under this chapter...."

So, has anyone been denied atty fees under 59.18.290 but still receive "statutory" atty fees under Chapter 4.84???  RCW 59.19.290 sure seems clear that "the court shall not award attorney fees" means all atty fees, but, then again, that's why I am asking.


[cid:image001.jpg at 01D93653.46C4FA40]

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  This e-mail message is intended to be received only by persons entitled to receive the confidential information it may contain. E-mail messages to clients of Paul A. Neumiller presumptively contain information that is confidential and legally privileged; e-mail messages to non-clients are normally confidential and may also be legally privileged. Please do not read, copy, forward or store this message unless you are the intended recipient of it. If you have received this message in error, please forward it back to the sender and delete it completely from your computer system.

E-mail communication on the Internet may NOT be secure. There is a risk that this confidential communication may be intercepted illegally. There may also be a risk of waiving attorney-client and/or work-product privileges that may attach to this communication. DO NOT forward this message to a third party. If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact the sender.


From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of Craig Sjostrom
Sent: Wednesday, February 1, 2023 1:28 PM
To: 'WSBA Real Property Listserv' <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>
Subject: Re: [WSBARP] Evictions and "Statutory Attorney Fees"

I assume he's referring to 4.84.010 and .080

Craig

CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message contains information belonging to the Law Office of Craig Sjostrom, which may be privileged, confidential and/or protected from disclosure.  The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above.  If you believe that you have received this message in error, please be so kind as to contact the sender and delete the message.  If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, distribution or copying is strictly prohibited. Thank you.
>
> Law Office of Craig Sjostrom, 1204 Cleveland Ave., Mount Vernon, WA  98273  Phone (360) 848-0339  Fax (360) 336-3488 email cdsjostrom at comcast.net<mailto:cdsjostrom at comcast.net>

From: wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com>> On Behalf Of Paul Neumiller
Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2023 12:43 PM
To: WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com<mailto:wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>>; Listserve RealProp (realprop at googlegroups.com<mailto:realprop at googlegroups.com>) <realprop at googlegroups.com<mailto:realprop at googlegroups.com>>
Subject: [WSBARP] Evictions and "Statutory Attorney Fees"

I was at a Show Cause Hearing and the tenant was a no show.  As I'm walking the judge through the proposed orders and filling in the blanks, I state that the LL is not seeking atty fees because, under RCW59.18.290, the LL is not entitled to atty fees if the tenant is a no show.  Then the judge said, "well you might not be entitled to reasonable attorney fees under this section but you can still request statutory attorney fees?"  Huh??  My client was only interested in the Writ so I answered that the LL was waiving ALL atty fees and we moved on.  Anyone have any guess what the judge was talking about?  Are there "statutory attorney fees" in an unlawful detainer other than RCW 59.18.290 and .410?!?!


[cid:image002.jpg at 01D93653.46C4FA40]


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230201/5263d05d/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 14264 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230201/5263d05d/image001.jpg>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 11801 bytes
Desc: image002.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230201/5263d05d/image002.jpg>