Eviction cases are spiking. How tenants and housing providers are dealing with the backlog

Soundside

It’s been a tumultuous few years for rental laws in Washington state.

When the pandemic caused widespread job and income losses, state, county, and city governments passed a series of protections to keep tenants housed. That included funds for back-paying rent and moratoriums on evictions.

But many of those protections have ended, and over the last year, eviction cases have spiked in the state. In King County’s court system specifically, that massive demand is leading to delays ranging from six months to a year.

Some see this bottleneck as a frustrating bureaucratic mess; but others see it as growing pains in a system that's shifting from favoring landlords to more equally representing tenants.

Soundside host Libby Denkmann spoke with Philippe Knab from the Office of Civil Legal Aid and Sean Flynn of the Rental Housing Association of Washington.

Guests:

• Philippe Knab, eviction defense and re-entry program manager at the Washington State Office of Civil Legal Aid
• Sean Flynn, executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Washington

Related links:

• Seattle Times: King County aims to speed up some eviction cases

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