Small landlords are at the mercy of broken King County eviction court

Small rental owners need support from state and local legislators — accountability measures for new landlord-tenant regulations and eviction moratorium impacts are sorely lacking. In particular, the eviction system is severely backlogged and mismanaged, with King County providing the most egregious examples.

Pre-COVID-19, the Seattle/King County area had one of the lowest eviction rates in the nation and a reasonable timeline for resolving cases. But where are we now? I’m a small landlord living in my van — rendered homeless by a tenant who has refused to pay rent during the entirety of his stay in my home. 

I started working and saving money to purchase a house from the time I was in high school. I spent years and thousands of hours improving a Beacon Hill house after purchasing it in 2016. Earlier this year, to pay for pilot school, I decided to rent it out while I moved into a small apartment to live frugally as a working full-time student.

I rented my home to a tenant on favorable payment terms (which he requested) that would allow him to take possession with minimal out-of-pocket funds. He paid a total of $1,000 and not a dime more since moving in 10 months ago. He has also refused to comply with other essential requirements in the lease. I offered generous payment plans, which the tenant has either rejected, not adhered to, or not responded to.

He also listed space in my house on Airbnb after not complying with lease terms, while I had to give up my apartment because he never paid a lick of rent. With more than $50,000 in back rent due and legal fees mounting, I converted my van into a camper and park at work. With free, publicly funded counsel for the tenant and repeated court delays, this may not resolve for well over a year.

Thanks to help from state Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, who heard my plight on the radio, Airbnb shut down the tenant’s illegal vacation rental operation (with no help from Seattle officials). Still, I’m facing a legal landlord-tenant minefield. 

After all amicable efforts were ignored by the tenant, I hired an attorney to begin an eviction process. Despite filing with the court in late spring, I received a court date on Oct. 23. On the day of the hearing, my tenant was assigned an attorney through the Housing Justice Project. Due to this intentional last-minute assignment, my court day was postponed to March 12, 2024 (after the lease term expires).

To add to this injustice, I’m told that King County Superior Court commissioners regularly have changed the formats for which eviction notices and payment plans are served. Hearing commissioners are now throwing out cases that, although appropriately filed before the changes took effect, do not meet the subsequent new rulings. The goal posts keep moving, and filing a proper case can be impossible even for the most seasoned attorney. If my case is rejected (as many are), I will have to start over from the beginning, which could set me back another year.

Mounting legal fees, costs for process servers, and the total loss of rental income have resulted in severe financial hardship and mental duress. I have resorted to asking friends and family for help through a Go Fund me account. Meanwhile, I remain responsible for all costs associated with my property.

I am only one of many hundreds of small landlords who are faced with injustice. We need protection against this unreasonable lack of due process. 

The Legislature could act, but even easier, the court officials could make changes right away that would ease the eviction backlog. One would be to stop allowing tenant advocates to intentionally delay eviction cases using scheduling tricks. This clogs courts and adds to the massive, insurmountable debt that’s being accrued by tenants while the case lingers on. 

If we, as a society, need to protect those who legitimately find themselves in unfortunate economic circumstances and need shelter, then we, as a society, should bear this burden together. It should not fall solely on small landlords.

We do not place the same burden on grocery stores to provide food for free, nor apparel companies to provide free clothing, so why are we placing this burden to provide free shelter on those in the business of providing housing?