There are several reasons why a tenant can sue in court for small claims. The State of Washington is responsible for non-state property owners (RCW 59.18.060). Landlords who live in the state, still have the same obligations under the owner-tenant law. If they violate one of the provisions that describe the obligations of the owners, they are considered to be subject to the jurisdiction of the Courts of Washington State. Tenants may have served them the communication on small Claims Court in the same way as any landlord residing in Washington State as long as it is served under the landlord-tenant law. Non-state owners to whom the communications of the Little Court of Washington State are sent are entitled to no less than 60 days to present themselves and respond. You can check if there is an appropriate part in the state against which you can submit a file to simplify the service. Depending on where you live, you could call the small claims court quite differently. Different names are “Magistrate Court,” “Pro Se Court” or “Justice of the Peace Court.” Before going to court, you should familiarize yourself with the terms. The persons or entities that file a complaint are complainants, while the persons or entities that are at the end of the complaint are defendants. Of course, the most common reason to take someone to the court of minor claims is to recover the money owed, whether the unpaid rent or money is to repair the damage to the property.

You can also take legal action for additional damages. If your tenant, for example.B. breaks the lease by moving prematurely, you can sue him for the tenancy that is due for the rest of the tenancy agreement. Depending on your state laws, you can also sue them for costs related to finding a new tenant. First, lawsuits are expensive – even small actions for damages. You must pay a registration fee and a service fee that can range from as much as $25 to $200, or more, depending on the state. Then there is the time you spend collecting receipts, photos and all the other evidence you need to back up your claim, plus at least a full day in court. This could mean taking a break from work, not to mention the burden of a stressful situation.

Before you sue a tenant, you talk to them about refunds. If you have to, bet them on a repayment plan or reduce the fees a bit to deny the anger of the court walk. You can sue up to $5,000 in the Small Claims Court and you can only recover money for specific violations of the contract or the law. If you have claims against your landlord for amounts over $5,000, you can try to sue them in another court. For more information, check out our legal advice guide. As it can be very difficult to find a lawyer to sue your landlord, you can also sue your landlord for only $5,000 of the money they owe you, which still allows you to use small claims.