Real Estate & Property Law

Evicting John Doe and Jane Doe

By Scott Eller, Esq.

Many landlords resists naming known unauthorized occupants on eviction notices.  The better practice - even if your notice forms has, as it should, an ‘and all persons in possession’ catch all - is to include all known occupants and serve enough copies for all occupants. 

The catch-all is a good and virtually universal practice.  It may not be enough.  The landlord must serve enough copies for each defendant in the unlawful detainer action.  It is a good practice to always serve one extra copy.  But what if the landlord did not do this (most do not)?  What if there is more than one unauthorized occupant?

An unauthorized occupant must be evicted if they do not leave voluntarily.  Law enforcement will not remove a person who has established a residency - authorized or not. 

An unlawful detainer eviction action is a lawsuit.  If you fail to name a party in interest - and someone subject to being evicted in the unlawful detainer is surely an interested party - the case may be delayed and perhaps dismissed. 

A good notice form will have a catch-all such as “all persons in possession”.  This is a good practice, but should not be relied on to the exclusion of naming known occupants.  At a minimum, enough copies should be served for each occupant.

While there is some statutory authority that might help as to unknown occupants, particularly if they become occupants while the case is pending, the better practice is to err on the side of caution and name all known occupants.

To avoid the argument that you have accepted the occupant be sure to serve a notice to comply or vacate citing unauthorized occupants, along with any other notices you may be serving.

If names are unknown cite John Doe 1, 2, etc. and Jane Doe 1, 2, etc. as needed. 

Full post as published by Seattle Landlord-Tenant Attorney on October 19, 2008 (boomark / email).