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If your landlord wants you to move and you refuse to do so, you cannot legally be forced to move unless your landlord files a lawsuit to evict you and obtains a court order. The eviction lawsuit is called an Unlawful Detainer Action. Even if you are behind in your rent or have violated other terms in your lease or rental agreement, your landlord cannot force you to move by locking you out, turning off your utilities, taking your personal property, or using other kinds of force.

If your landlord starts an Unlawful Detainer Action against you, you should immediately try to talk to an attorney or tenant counselor to get information about how to defend yourself in the action. Although you have the right to represent yourself in an Unlawful Detainer Action without an attorney, those actions move quickly and can be complicated. Try to obtain legal advice and representation if you can.

This publication briefly describes how to represent yourself if you are being evicted and you cannot obtain an attorney to represent you.

Do you need an interpreter?

If you need an interpreter for an eviction show cause hearing or trial because you cannot readily speak or understand the English language, or you are a hearing-impaired person who cannot readily understand or communicate in the spoken English language, you should contact the county Superior Court Clerk's office as soon as you know the date and time of the hearing or trial. Qualified interpreters, or "certified" interpreters in those languages which are certified by the Office of the Administrator of the Courts, must be made available at no cost to anyone who cannot afford an interpreter. Qualified and/or intermediary interpreters must be made available for persons who are hearing impaired.

What are the reasons your landlord can evict you?

Your landlord can terminate your lease or rental agreement and evict you for many different reasons. They include: not paying your rent; seriously damaging the property (waste); seriously interfering with the rights of other tenants, including engaging in illegal drug-related activity, gang-related activity, or certain assaults (nuisance); conducting an illegal business on the property, or violating an important rule or regulation. If you are renting on a month-to-month basis and live outside the city of Seattle, then your landlord does not need a reason to terminate your tenancy and evict you. Your landlord can ordinarily evict you for any reason or for no reason at all as long as you are given proper advance written notice and the eviction is not considered illegal retaliation or discrimination.

If you live inside the Seattle city limits, then your landlord must have "just cause" to terminate your tenancy and evict you. Information and publications about the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance can be obtained by contacting the City of Seattle, Department of Design, Construction and Land Use at (206) 684-7867.

What type of eviction notice must your landlord give you?

Before your landlord can start an Unlawful Detainer Action against you, ordinarily you must be served with some kind of written eviction notice. Although the notice must contain certain information, it does not need to be on any particular form and it does not need to be notarized.

The notices vary depending on the reason for eviction. In the case of nonpayment of rent, it is a notice that you must either pay rent in three days or move out in three days. If it is claimed that you are seriously damaging the property, committing a nuisance (including illegal drug-related activity, gang-related activity, or certain assaults), or conducting an illegal business, then you can be given a three-day notice to move out without being given any opportunity to correct the problems. If you have a lease for a definite period of time, for example six months, one year or five years, and your landlord is claiming that you are violating the terms of your lease, then your landlord may give you a ten-day notice to either correct the violation or move out.

If you are renting month-to-month and live outside the city of Seattle, then your landlord can terminate your tenancy by giving you written notice twenty days or more before the end of any monthly rental period. The notice does not have to state a reason for the termination. If your lease for a definite period expires and you do not move, then your landlord can ordinarily start an Unlawful Detainer Action against you without any further notice (unless your lease requires notice). Failure to move after your lease expires is the only circumstance in which your landlord can start an Unlawful Detainer Action without advance written notice.

How is the eviction notice delivered?

State law describes how the eviction notice must be delivered to you. If your lease or rental agreement describes a different method of delivery, then that method must usually be followed also. Your landlord must first attempt to deliver the eviction notice to you personally. If personal delivery is made, a copy of the eviction notice does not have to be mailed to you or posted. If you are not home when delivery is attempted, then the notice can be left with someone else of suitable age who is there, but another copy of the notice must also be sent to you by regular mail. If nobody is home when delivery is attempted, then the notice may be posted in a conspicuous place on the property (usually the door), but a copy must also be sent to you by regular mail. The notice does not have to be delivered by the police or a professional process server. It may be delivered by any adult, including the landlord or manager.

How is the Unlawful Detainer Action started?

Your landlord can start an Unlawful Detainer Action against you after your eviction notice expires or after your lease expires. He can start an Unlawful Detainer Action against you in one of two ways: either serve you with an unfiled Summons and Complaint first, then file the papers with the court later; or, file the papers with the court first, and serve you later. The court does not assign a number to the Unlawful Detainer Action until your landlord pays the filing fee and files the papers with the Superior Court Clerk. Because your landlord can serve you first and file later, the Summons and Complaint are legal even if they do not have a case number on them when you receive them. You must respond to unfiled legal papers the same way you respond to filed legal papers.

The Summons and Complaint must be served on you at least seven calendar days before the deadline for submitting your Answer. Unlike the eviction notices, the Summons and Complaint cannot be posted on the property or mailed unless the landlord gets a special court order. The Summons and Complaint must either be delivered to you personally, or delivered to the place where you live and left with some other person who also lives there. The Summons and Complaint must be served by some adult other than your landlord. Download this publication to view the attached sample Summons and Complaint.

How do you answer the Summons and Complaint?

If you are served with a Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer, then you must deliver a written response to the Complaint by the deadline stated in the Summons. You may respond by serving either a "Notice of Appearance" or an "Answer" on the person who signed the Summons and Complaint.

A Notice of Appearance merely states that you are appearing in the lawsuit. By serving a Notice of Appearance, you will prevent the court from entering a default judgment against you without giving you further notice and an opportunity to deliver your Answer. A Notice of Appearance does not explain your position in the lawsuit. This will be done when you file your Answer. You should use the form Notice of Appearance which is attached. A Notice of Appearance does not take the place of an Answer and you should still fill out and deliver a written Answer to your landlord's Complaint for Unlawful Detainer.
You should plan on serving and filing your Answer before you go to court. You can use the attached Answer form to fill in the necessary information. To fill it out, follow the directions below.

At the top of your Answer you should fill in the name of the county where the lawsuit is filed, the name of the plaintiff and the name of the defendant. These names should be filled in the same way they appear on the Summons and Complaint. If there is a case number on the upper right-hand side of the Summons and Complaint, then fill in the same case number on your Answer. Remember, because your landlord is allowed to serve the legal papers on you first and file them later, there may not be a case number on the Summons and Complaint that you receive. You must still deliver your Answer to the landlord's lawyer (or to the landlord if he or she has no lawyer) by the deadline stated in the Summons, even if there is no case number.

In your Answer, you should state whether each of the numbered paragraphs in the Complaint is true or false. You do this by filling in the numbers of those paragraphs that you admit and those paragraphs that you deny. If you are only admitting or denying part of a paragraph, then you should state which parts you admit and which parts you deny. If you do not know whether some statements are true or false, you should state that you lack knowledge about those paragraphs and they will be considered denied.

After you admit or deny each paragraph in the Complaint, you should list any other reasons why you feel you should not be evicted. These reasons are generally called affirmative defenses. For example, if you are being evicted for not paying your rent and you stopped paying your rent because you had to pay for repairs that your landlord should have made, then state that in your affirmative defenses. Also, if you were not properly served with the Summons and Complaint, were not served with the correct eviction notices, or your landlord is breaking any other state or local law by evicting you, then you should list those violations as affirmative defenses.

If your landlord is claiming that you owe rent, but you feel that he actually owes you money because of repair problems, deposits which you have paid, or other expenses or problems which he has caused, then you should state the amount of money that he owes you and why it is owed. This should be listed in a separate category called set-offs.

After you have filled in your Answer, you should write in the date, sign it and print your name, address, and telephone number. If there is not enough space to write in all of your affirmative defenses and set-offs, then you should continue on a separate sheet of paper and attach it to your Answer. You do not have to type your Answer or submit it on numbered legal paper. However, it is very important that your Answer be clearly written so people can read it and understand it.

What if your Summons tells you to pay your rent to the court?

If you are being evicted for nonpayment of rent and your Summons contains certain special language (see the sample Summons which is attached), then you may have to pay the rent money to the Superior Court Clerk within seven days after you receive the Summons. If the Summons states that the Complaint was not filed at the time that it was served on you, then you have seven days from the date that you receive written notice of filing from the landlord in which to pay the rent money to the Clerk

In King County, payments are made to the cashier in the King County Superior Court Clerk's office which is on the sixth floor of the King County Courthouse, Third Avenue and James Street, Seattle, Washington or at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.

Under some circumstances, you may not have to pay the rent money demanded by your landlord to the court. If you believe that you do not owe the amount of money asked for in the Complaint because of some legal defense, equitable defense or set-off that arose out of your tenancy, then you can deliver a statement certifying that you do not owe the money that is being demanded. The statement must be in writing and must be made under the penalty of perjury. A sample Certification form is attached to this publication.

The rent money must be deposited or the Certification must be delivered to the court within seven days after you are either served with the filed Summons and Complaint or you receive written notice that the Summons and Complaint have been filed, whichever is later. If you do not make the rent deposit or deliver the written Certification by the deadline, then your landlord will be able to automatically get a court order directing that you be evicted without any further notice. You may also lose your right to present your claims and defenses or complain about the rent, damages, and other fees or charges that your landlord is trying to collect.

How do you deliver your Answer, Notice of Appearance, or Certification?

Make at least two copies of your Answer, Notice of Appearance, and, if necessary, your Certification about the rent. Deliver one copy of each of these documents to the lawyer for your landlord. The lawyer's name and address should be printed on the lower right-hand side of the Summons and Complaint. If your landlord doesn't have a lawyer and is representing himself, deliver a copy of the documents to your landlord. You must deliver a copy of your Answer or Notice of Appearance on or before the date and time stated in the Summons. If you are late, you may lose your chance to defend the Unlawful Detainer Action. You must also deliver your Certification within the required seven-day period.

Because it is important for your Answer, Notice of Appearance, and Certification to be delivered on time, it is best to deliver a copy of each document personally to the landlord's lawyer. The papers may be left with a secretary or receptionist. If you are delivering the papers to the lawyer's office, ask the receptionist to stamp the original and copy of each document with a "copy received" stamp showing the date received. If your Summons says that your Answer must be delivered by a certain hour, ask the receptionist to write in the time of day that the Answer or Notice of Appearance was received on the original and your copy and have the receptionist initial it.

Getting your original and copy of the Answer, Notice of Appearance, and Certification stamped by the receptionist will prove that these documents were delivered by the deadline stated in the Summons. If you decide to mail these documents to the landlord's lawyer, be sure to allow enough time for the mail to be delivered by the deadline. If you mail a document, you should include a Certificate of Service (these certificates are attached to the forms provided). It is not enough for the Answer, Notice of Appearance, and Certification to be postmarked on or before the deadline. It must be received by the deadline stated in the Summons.

Where do you file your original Answer, Notice of Appearance and Certification?

When your landlord pays the filing fee and files the Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer with the court, the court assigns a case number. That number will usually be stamped or typed on the upper right-hand side of the Summons and Complaint. The court will not have any record of the case and will not be able to give you any information about the case until the case has been filed.

If there is a case number on your Summons and Complaint, then you should write in the number on your Answer, Notice of Appearance and Certification, and file the original(s) with the Superior Court Clerk in your county. File the original Answer, Notice of Appearance and Certification after you deliver a copy to the landlord's lawyer and obtain proof of service (the "copy received" stamp), but before the deadline stated in the Summons. In King County, the originals are filed in the Clerk's Office, sixth floor, King County Courthouse, Third Avenue and James Street, Seattle, Washington or at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. At the time you file the original Answer, Notice of Appearance and Certification, you should stamp your personal copies with the Clerk's stamp showing the date the originals were filed.

If the Summons and Complaint which you receive do not have a case number on them, then the Clerk will not have a record of your case and you will not be able to file the original of your Answer, Notice of Appearance or Certification with the Clerk.

You must still follow the regular procedure for delivering a copy of your Answer and Certification to your landlord's lawyer, even if the case has not been filed. However, if there is no case number, keep your original Answer and Certification until you are notified that the case has been filed and has been assigned a case number. When you receive the case number, follow the procedure for filing the original documents described above.

What if your Summons requires you to Answer the Complaint personally?

The Summons may tell you to answer the Complaint by appearing personally in the county courthouse in one of the courtrooms on or before a certain date and time. Unless you have also been served with a legal paper called an Order to Show Cause, you should not be required to go down to the courthouse personally to answer the Complaint. It should only be necessary for you to deliver a copy of your Answer or Notice of Appearance to the lawyer for your landlord by the deadline stated in the Summons, and you should follow the same procedure for delivering a copy of your Answer or Notice of Appearance and filing the original that is described above. It is a good idea, however, to talk to the landlord's attorney before the deadline and confirm that you will be given written notice later if a court hearing is scheduled or arrangements are made to obtain a trial date.

What happens if you receive an Order to Show Cause?

In addition to the Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer, you may also receive a legal paper called an Order to Show Cause. Sometimes the Order to Show Cause is served with the Summons and Complaint and sometimes it will be served on you later. An Order to Show Cause and a show cause hearing are not required. It is up to your landlord to decide whether you will be served with an Order to Show Cause to appear at a show cause hearing. If you do get the order, it will tell you to personally appear on a specific date at a specific time at the county courthouse for a hearing on your eviction. In King County, the hearings are held before the Court Commissioners at 9:00 a.m. in the King County Courthouse, Third Avenue and James Street, Seattle, Washington or at the Regional Justice Center in Kent.

If you receive an Order to Show Cause and you want to defend yourself in the Unlawful Detainer Action, then you are required to appear at the show cause hearing. It will not be enough for you to deliver your written Answer to your landlord's attorney and file your original Answer with the Superior Court Clerk. It will also not be enough for you to pay your rent money to the Court or deliver a written Certification about your rent. If you do not appear at the show cause hearing or are late for the show cause hearing, even if it is only a few minutes, then the Judge or Court Commissioner can order you to be evicted and can decide that you owe the landlord rent, damages, court costs, attorney's fees and other fees and charges.

The purpose of the show cause hearing is to decide whether you have any defense to the eviction which will make a full trial necessary or whether you have no defenses and should be evicted immediately without a trial. Your landlord's attorney will explain to the Judge or Court Commissioner why you should be evicted immediately. You will have an opportunity to explain to the Judge or Court Commissioner why you believe you should not be evicted. Although the hearings generally last only ten to fifteen minutes, you should be prepared. Bring any witnesses with you to the hearing who have personal information about the reasons why you should not be evicted. Also bring any documents or papers related to your case such as rent receipts, rental agreements, lists of repair problems, pictures of repair problems, or repair receipts.

What happens at the Show Cause Hearing?

Counties have different procedures for conducting show cause hearings in landlord-tenant disputes. In some counties, the show cause hearings are held before the Presiding Judge. In other counties, the hearings are conducted by Court Commissioners or a special department. If you have questions about the procedure or where you are supposed to be, you should call your county Superior Court information number and obtain information in advance.

When you appear at the time and place stated in the Order to Show Cause, tell the Court Clerk who you are, the name of your landlord, and the case number. When your case is called, you will appear before a Judge or Court Commissioner. Your landlord and your landlord's attorney will explain to the Judge or Court Commissioner why you should be evicted. You will be given a chance to respond and state reasons why you should not be evicted.

After briefly listening to your statements and the statements of your landlord, the Judge or Court Commissioner will generally make one of the following decisions:

What if you want to have your case decided by a jury?

You do not have a right to a jury at the show cause hearing. If, however, the Judge or Court Commissioner directs you and your landlord to get a trial date, you have the right to have your case heard by either a Judge or a jury at trial. If you want your case heard by a jury, you must file a written request for a jury before you get a trial date. If you do not file a written request for a jury before a trial date is set, then you give up your right to a jury trial and your case will be heard by a Judge. The fee for a jury must be paid when you file your written request. The fee is $125 for a six-person jury and $250 for a twelve-person jury. If you cannot afford to pay the jury fee, you may ask the Court to waive the jury fee before a trial date is set.

What happens if you move out before the Answer deadline or the show cause hearing?

If you move out of your house or apartment before the landlord starts an Unlawful Detainer Action against you by serving or filing the legal papers, then your landlord may no longer start a lawsuit for eviction. However, he may still have the right to file a lawsuit against you for back rent, property damage, other damages, and other charges, fees and court costs including attorney's fees. Your landlord may have up to six years in which to file a lawsuit against you for money after you move out.

If you move out of your house or apartment after you are served with the Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer, but before the deadline for your response or the date and time for a show cause hearing, the Unlawful Detainer Action is not automatically stopped or dismissed. Even if you move out, your landlord is still entitled to go ahead with the Unlawful Detainer Action and ask the court to order you to pay rent, damages, court costs, and attorney's fees. If you dispute any of these damages, costs, or fees, you should answer the Complaint and appear at the show cause hearing even if you have already moved out. If you do not answer or appear, then your landlord will ordinarily get what he asks for in his Complaint automatically.

What happens if your case is set for trial?

If the Judge or Court Commissioner decides that your case should be set for trial or you and your landlord's attorney agree that there will be a trial, then it will be necessary for you and your landlord to obtain a trial date. In King County, trial dates are obtained when the case is assigned to a judge by the Clerk's office on the sixth floor of the King County Courthouse, Third Avenue and James Street, Seattle, Washington or by the Clerk's office at the Regional Justice Center in Kent. If you are still living in the property at the time the trial date is obtained, then your landlord is ordinarily entitled to a speedy trial date within 30 days. If you have moved out of the property before a trial date is set, and the only issues are rent, damages, and other fees and costs, then the case will be set for arbitration or trial like other damage cases and will generally not be heard within 30 days.

The procedure that is followed by the Court at the time of your trial may vary from county to county, and you should try to obtain information about the specific procedure in your county. In King County, you and your witnesses must appear on the day the case is set for trial in the courtroom of the judge to whom the case was assigned at either the King County Courthouse, Third Avenue and James Street, Seattle, Washington or the Regional Justice Center in Kent. Court usually begins at 9:00 a.m.

What happens if you do not answer the Summons and Complaint or you lose at the show cause hearing or trial?

If you do not answer the Summons and Complaint by the deadline (or you do not pay rent money to the Court or deliver a Certification by the deadline if those things are required), then your landlord will automatically get what he is asking for in the Complaint. This will generally include a court order directing that you be evicted by the Sheriff and a court order stating that you owe rent, other damages, fees and charges, court costs and attorney's fees. This order stating what you owe is usually called a Judgment, builds up interest at the legal interest rate until paid, and is collectible for at least ten years after the date that it is entered. If you lose at the show cause hearing or at trial, the Court will also issue an order directing that you be evicted and will enter a Judgment against you for money.

If the Court enters an order for you to be evicted, then the Court Clerk will issue a Writ of Restitution. The Writ of Restitution instructs the County Sheriff to remove you and your possessions from the property you are renting.

The Writ of Restitution will be delivered to you personally or posted on your door by the Sheriff. It will usually state the day when the Sheriff will be back to remove you and your personal property from the place that you are renting. This day will be between three business days after the Writ is delivered to the property and ten days from the date the Writ of Restitution was issued by the Clerk. An eviction can only be carried out under the supervision of the Sheriff. If you are still at the property when the Sheriff returns on the eviction date, then it is legal for him to supervise the removal of your furniture and other personal property. Usually the property will be placed on the sidewalk or parking strip, unless the landlord has decided to store the property and you do not object. The Sheriff has the power to forcibly remove you from the property or arrest you for interfering with the eviction if you refuse to cooperate or move voluntarily.

If you have any questions about when the Sheriff will be coming out to evict you or how the physical eviction process works, you should call the Sheriff's office. The Sheriff's telephone number may be stamped on the Writ of Restitution. If you have not moved your property out before the eviction date, you should make every effort to be present when the eviction takes place. Your landlord and the Sheriff are not required to protect your property from the weather, theft, or other damage after it is removed and need not make arrangements to have the property stored in a safe place.

Under certain limited circumstances, you may be able to stop the eviction by paying money or posting a bond. You may also be able to stop the eviction if you were never properly served with the Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer, or if you have a good defense to the lawsuit and a good excuse for not submitting a written Answer on time, not appearing at the show cause hearing or trial, or not depositing your rent money with the court or delivering a written Certification about the rent. These special circumstances for stopping an eviction after a Writ of Restitution has been issued are very limited. It can also be very difficult to stop the eviction after it has gone this far.

You may also have certain appeal rights from a Judge's or Court Commissioner's ruling either at the show cause hearing or at trial. An appeal, however, will not necessarily stop the eviction automatically. You should seek the advice of a lawyer immediately to find out if you fall into any of these categories for stopping the eviction or if you want further information about possible appeal rights.

How long does the eviction process take and how much can it cost?

Unlawful Detainer Actions move quickly. If you do not answer the Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer and you do not show up at the hearings, you could be evicted as quickly as two to three weeks after you are served with legal papers. If you answer and appear and the case is set for trial, the trial will usually be held within 30 days. If you lose at trial, you can be evicted as quickly as seven to ten days after the trial.

In addition to being evicted and being held responsible for paying back rent and other damages, you can also be held responsible for your landlord's court costs and attorney's fees. Court costs may range from $100 to $200 or more. Attorney's fees usually start at $250 to $300 and may go as high as $1,000, or more, depending on how much time your landlord's lawyer spends on the case. If you are working or have other property from which your landlord could collect a judgment for money, your wages or bank account may be garnished or certain personal property could be seized and sold.

What if you and your landlord want to settle your case?

You and your landlord may want to try to negotiate a settlement of your case before the show cause hearing or before the trial. The case can be settled at any time as long as you and your landlord agree. If you and your landlord agree to settle the case, make sure that the settlement agreement is in writing and that you understand all of the terms of settlement. The agreement should say whether you will be permitted to stay or whether you will have to move. If you are required to move, it should state the date by which you are required to move.

The agreement should also spell out whether you are responsible for the payment of rent, damages, late charges, or other fees or charges, court costs, and attorney's fees. It should describe what happens if you do not move out by the agreed date or do not pay sums of money required by the agreement. If you and your landlord reach a written agreement for settlement, you should have the agreement (called a Stipulation) reviewed by an attorney before signing it. A sample Stipulation is attached to this publication.

Where can you get legal help if you are being evicted?

When you are served with a Summons and Complaint for Unlawful Detainer, you should contact a lawyer immediately. If you do not know any lawyers and you cannot get recommendations through friends and acquaintances, then you can contact your local bar association for information about referrals. In King County, you can call the Lawyer Referral Service of the King County Bar Association and ask them to refer you to a lawyer. Information about their service and fees can be obtained by calling (206) 623-2551.

There are several agencies which provide information and counseling for tenants in the Seattle-King County area, and you may want to contact one of these agencies. The agencies include the Fremont Public Association, (206) 694-6767; The Tenants Union, (206) 723-0500; and Legal Action Center, (206) 324-6890.

Outside of King County, you may call the CLEAR hotline at 1-888-201-1014. Some counties may have a Housing Justice Project that assists low-income tenants in eviction cases. You can obtain information about those projects by calling your local bar association or CLEAR.

Sample forms (and a warning).

Sample forms referred to earlier in these materials are included for those forms that you may need to fill out in responding to an Unlawful Detainer Action. We have also included a sample Summons and Complaint. These forms are provided to illustrate how a particular form may be filled out. These are only examples. The forms may have to be changed to meet the needs of your particular situation. Because you may have defenses to an Unlawful Detainer Action that are not discussed in this publication (for example, retaliation or illegal discrimination), it is suggested that you get legal advice before preparing and delivering an Answer or appearing at a hearing or trial.

This publication provides general information concerning your rights and responsibilities. It is not intended as a substitute for specific legal advice.
This information is current as of the date of its printing, August 2003.

© 2006 Northwest Justice Project.
1-888-201-1014, TTY 1-888-201-9737
(Permission for copying and distribution granted to the Alliance for Equal Justice and individuals for non-commercial use only.)