Washington Supreme Court refuses to extend eviction time limits

When a residential tenant fails to pay rent in Washington, the landlord is entitled to file an unlawful detainer action for forfeiture of the lease, but only after giving notice to the tenant to pay rent or vacate the premises within three days - or four days if served by mail.  RCW 59.12.040.  Last Thursday the Washington Supreme Court held that the statutory three-day notice period is not extended by Civil Rule 6(a), which calculates time periods of less than seven days by excluding weekends and holidays.

In Christensen v. Ellsworth, the landlord on a Friday (which was also the Fourth of July holiday) mailed notice to the tenant to pay rent or vacate.  Having received no response from the tenant, the landlord then served the summons and complaint for unlawful detainer after four calendar days, on a Wednesday.  The tenant later argued that the landlord had served the summons and complaint too soon, because the computation of the statutory period should have excluded the weekend under Civil Rule 6(a).  The Supreme Court held that the three-day notice provision - or four-day in this case, due to service by mail - is substantive law not subject to the procedural court rules. As such, the court concluded that Civil Rule 6(a) does not apply to a three-day notice in an unlawful detainer proceeding, and the tenant was properly evicted.