Seattle Legal Help

SETTLEMENT

IOR TO FILING THE CASE, I USUAL RECOMMEND AT LEASE EXPLORING SETTLEMENT (Step 3)

 STIPULATED AGREEMENT  We can attempt to settle the case by agreement.  I can/have drafted already  the agreement, 

Next step is contact the tenant, and get them to sign.  

This would save the hassle of a morning in court   

If the tenants comply with the agreement,  they would avoid an eviction on their record, and you would avoid the court costs and sheriff's fee.    

If you want me to email this to her through Adobe e-sign I can just send me her email 

(and I prefer invoice is paid before I have to contact tenant :)

If the tenant fail to vacate timely/comply with the agreement,,  you will not need to restart the lawsuit against them.

Instead, I would file the case, motion the court, the commissioner would sign an order for a writ to evict them from premises., 

This is done without a  court hearing, and the sheriff would immediately execute the eviction  

Settlement can take the form of an agreed vacate date and/or payment plan.  

TYPES OF AGREEMENT

 AGREED ORDER FOR WRIT 

Prior to the hearing, the parties can agree to a court order, that would get signed off at the hearing.

This would be a "Judgment and Order for Writ of Restitution," the typical eviction order.

However, on the order, the parties could agree to "NO PHYSICAL EVICTION"  prior to a certain date,

The parties could also negotiate on the agree judgment amount.

This Agreed Order could be taken directly to the sheriff, and the eviction would be scheduled with the sheriff.

If the tenant's fail to vacate by the eviction date, we would then just call the sheriff, and they would already have the paperwork needed to execute the eviction,  

 AGREEMENT TO VACATE (NOT COURT ORDER)

- The simplest option is an agreed move out, 

- You would give the Tenants a set amount of time to move move.  (2 weeks the minimum)

-We discussed maybe giving him two weeks to vacate, so long as you approve.

- After they move out, yo can seek all loss of back rent in small claims court, 

If the tenant's fail to comply, you will not need to restart the lawsuit against them.  

Instead, I would motion the court, the commissioner would sign an automatic order to evict

AGREEMENT TO PAY AND STAY (NOT COURT ORDER)

- We could enter into payment plan, for the tenants to pay back rent and remain on the property.

- The tenants would have to commit to a payment plan and make all payments. 

- I would draft the agreement, contact the tenant, and get them to sign 

- If they comply with the payment plan, then they would avoid an eviction on their record, and you would avoid the court costs and sheriff's fee.  

 If the tenant's fail to comply, we would will not need to restart the lawsuit against them.  

Instead, we would file and schedule the court date 

 

 

 LETTER TO TENANT

The Letter explains everything to the defendants, including the terms of the agreement and instructions on what to sign. 

It also includes and explanation as to what the acceptance of service is, and why they must sign this.  

You may also want to read this letter as well so you understand the process.

 

 ACCEPTANCE OF SERVICE:  Tenant should sign this, accepting service of the lawsuit upon him.  

This way, we don't need to arrange for them to be served by a t3rd party,, 

 NOTICE OF INTENT TO SEEK WRIT - RENT DEFAULT

  NOTICE OF INTENT TO SEEK WRIT - VACATE DEFAULT

It is recommended that we give a 3 day notice, three days prior to filing.

Please look at the paragraph in the agreement dealing with how and when to serve.

Let me know if you have any questions about this newer requirement!! (see RCW 59.18.410)

This doesn't change the vacate date.  It just means that one of us needs to give tenants notice that we are enforcing the agreement.  

Such notice must be given 3 days before we intent to seek the writ. (Either one of us can serve, just let me know)

l, 

Among the Key Terms of this Agreement:

-  Vacate date shall be December 31st, 2021 

-

- The unit shall be left in good condition upon vacating.

You would provide a neutral rental reference to prospective landlords.

If you vacate timely, my client will file an order of dismissal and limited dissemination

 If the tenants comply with the agreement, they would avoid an eviction on their record, and you would avoid the court costs and sheriff's fee.

 If tenant vacate timely, there shall be no case filing or public record of eviction.

 If tenant fail to vacate timely, the owner may continue/initiate judicial action that leads to your eviction from the premises. (vacate notice, unlawful detainer lawsuit, case filing, court dat

If you fail to vacate timely, we would file the case and request issuance of a Writ of Restitution to evict you from the premises.  

It is fine to resolve the matter with an vacate agreement, and I could prepare it.  A couple things to keep in mind:

 

3)  A NOTE ABOUT STIPULATED AGREEMENTS PRE LAWSUIT 

Some stipulated agreements has language, 

that the court will sign an eviction order automatically if the tenant breaks the agreements.  

However, this only works after both a valid eviction notice AND a lawsui has been served.

However, a judge cannot sign an eviction order until they first have jurisdiction over the defendants. 

And the court does not have jurisdiction to sign an eviction order until the defendants have been served the lawsuit.  

And this means waiting till the eviciton notice expires (20 day notice in this case).  

You are not legally allowed to serve an eviction lawsuit until the noitce period expired.  

So, even though, we can absolutely make the agreement now, it won't have the same effect than if we wait.  

To get the automatic order of eviction, we would have to wait till the notice expires on December 31st, 2019.  

We would then serve the lawsuit on January 1st.  And she could sign a vacate agreement immediately after

So, even though, we can absolutely make the agreement now, It will NOT speed up the eviction process and we could NOT  get an automatic order to evict.