Hiring A Contractor Or Other Professional? Do Your Research

I have been a bit preoccupied as of late (new baby at home, tending to clients, etc.), so I just happened to notice that I have not yet reviewed my new edition of the Washington State Bar News. The Bar News is a publication put out by the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) that chronicles local attorney news, discusses current legal topics, and provides various advertisements and information for attorneys in Washington.

However, for me (as with probably most attorneys) the most important and compelling part of the Bar News is looking to see if any attorneys have been suspended or disbarred in the "Discipline Notices" section. Call it our Page Six or TMZ type dirt for lawyers - like everyone, we attorneys all enjoy good gossip and potentially shocking news about others in our profession. Not only are the disciplinary notices highlighted in the Bar News, they are also maintained and chronicled on the WSBA website via the lawyer directory. The lawyer directory allows you to look up any Washington State lawyer and see whether or not they have had a past disciplinary action.

Hence, if you need to hire an attorney, you should always check the lawyer directory to find out more info on your attorney - e.g. to see if they are actively licensed, whether they have been previously suspended or disbarred. Surely mistakes happen, but if you have concerns and some flags have been raised, perhaps its worth checking out another attorney, or getting additional referrals.

This same logic holds true for construction contractors. In Washington, construction contractors are required to be licensed and bonded pursuant to state statute (RCW 18.27). The purpose of the Contractor's Registration Statute is to help protect the general public from unreliable, fraudulent, financially irresponsible, or incompetent contractors. In the same fashion as a lawyer directory through the WSBA, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries also has a contractor directory. This entails you can look up any business or individual performing work as a contractor in Washington (provided they are licensed,which is required under law) - and it will reveal whether or not the contractor has a currently active license or whether they have any past summons and complaints filed against them.

If a contractor is unlicensed or has a suspended license, you should not be allowing them to do work for you (though it could be for free, because unlicensed contractors are not permitted to sue you - though it is not worth taking this risk, so do not do it). There is generally a good reason some contractors do not have a license and it is usually because they perform cheap and crappy work. Hence, when you pay for cheap and crappy work, you will end up having to do the work over, which will cost you more money in the long run. This happens, trust me. You do not want to find this out the hard way. The hard way is realizing you probably paid this unlicensed contractor in cash (because they want money under the table), they already spent the money and will not give it back, and you will have a near impossible job of trying to get it back (i.e. they are judgment or collection proof - meaning they have no money or they file for bankruptcy).

The point here is do you research before hiring someone. Whether it is a lawyer or construction contractor. There are tools and resources out there to allow you to do your homework - use them, seek referrals, and do your research.

Evictions: Not The Best DIY Project

Okay, so first off, I apologize if this is a topic I have covered before, but it never seems to fail and it is an issue that comes up again, and again, and again... a new client will come in and they will hand over a stack of paperwork informing me they tried to evict a tenant, but the court would not allow them to do so. Now, I fully understand the motive to want to do something inexpensively and not having to pay an attorney, but as the saying goes, "he who represents himself in court, has a fool for a client." Well, this saying definitely holds true for those landlords out there trying to do their own evictions. Sure you want to save a few bucks and avoid having to pay an expensive attorney, so you think to yourself "how hard can this be?" After all, times are tough, and common sense would seem to apply: it's your property, the tenant has not paid rent or the lease is up and you want them out, so you should be able to just kick them out, right? Wrong.

There are some very strict rules when it comes to evictions in Washington State. The first rule is knowing that there are not "self-help" evictions in Washington. A "self-help" eviction does not mean that you cannot do it yourself (without an attorney), it simply means you cannot do an eviction without going through the court system (i.e. you cannot show up at the tenant's doorstep and demand they move out; nor can you do something like change the locks on a tenant and forcing them out of the house). These types of actions are unlawful and you can get into big trouble by doing something like this. So do not do it. You must go to court to properly evict someone.

Now, I realize this is going to seem like a ploy or a pitch to hire an attorney (or me), but the reality is, you do not want to mess up an unlawful detainer action by not knowing what you are doing. Failing to follow proper procedures can end up costing you more in the long run. If you do not give the proper notice, you will likely have to start over and give the notice again. If you do not properly file and serve the summons and complaint, you will likely have your case dismissed and in some circumstances the court could grant fees and costs to the tenant for your mistake (ouch!). Another way to think about it is this: in the instance where a tenant is not paying you rent, and you mess up the eviction process, then it simply comes down to lost time and rent from not having a new good tenant in your house who also pays rent.

So before considering doing your own eviction, talk to an attorney. In all likelihood an attorney can end up saving you quite a bit of money by avoiding mistakes and expediting the process.

For additional info on unlawful detainer or eviction actions in Washington State, be sure to review RCW 59.12 and for residential issues look to the Residential Landlord Tenant Act RCW 59.18. I have also previously discussed the grounds for eviction here.