House Bill 1089 makes multiple changes to Washington landlord-tenant law by amending several sections of chapter 59 RCW and adding new provisions. It modifies court procedures for unlawful detainer actions, revises the eviction summons form and how a defendant may serve an answer, and authorizes superior courts in each county to appoint attorneys as court commissioners with county legislative approval. The bill also prescribes show-cause hearing timing (judge must set a hearing 7–30 days after a motion), service timing (copies must be served at least seven days before the hearing), limits on what a defendant may present at the hearing depending on whether a written answer was filed, and that a writ of restitution ordered by the court is returnable 10 days after its date. The bill adds procedural protections before a writ of restitution issues prior to final judgment, including a court-ordered bond with approved surety, an order directing the parties to proceed to trial on complaint and answer, and a requirement that if the court finds the plaintiff is not entitled to possession it must deny the writ and set trial within 30 days. Show-cause orders are not subject to civil rule 54(b), and continuances for availability of appointed indigent counsel are restricted unless counsel was assigned at least seven days before the hearing. The bill establishes that, subject to appropriations, the Office of Civil Legal Aid will implement appointment of attorneys for indigent tenants in unlawful detainer proceedings and the state will pay for those appointed attorneys. It defines “indigent” for this purpose (certain public benefits or income at or below 200% of the federal poverty level), requires documented verification before the response deadline, and bars recovery of legal fees for services provided under the appointment program. The bill also enumerates tenant obligations (rent, upkeep, no intentional damage, certain prohibitions on drug-related or specified criminal or gang-related activity, smoke detector maintenance, etc.) and makes substantial noncompliance with statutory tenant obligations a ground for unlawful detainer while specifying exceptions where landlords may proceed directly for alleged drug-related activity, certain arrest-related criminal activity, or alleged gang-related activity; landlords are protected from liability for bringing good-faith actions on those grounds. The bill revises when landlords may end tenancies and the notice required for many causes. It limits no-cause terminations to specified circumstances (including two 60-day notice scenarios for ending tenancies at the end of an initial or specified lease term) and enumerates numerous causes for eviction or nonrenewal with corresponding advance written notice periods (examples include 90 days for owner or family occupancy or sale, 30 days for certain uninhabitability or sex-offender registration issues, 20 days for shared housing or certain conduct, 10 days for some nonmonetary breaches, three days for nuisance or unlawful activity, and 60 days for certain economic/business reasons or repeated violations). The bill defines “elects to sell” for sale-based evictions and creates rebuttable presumptions about intent to sell based on listing and subsequent market actions. New Section 12 provides that Section 10 of the act expires January 1, 2028, and New Section 13 states Section 11 takes effect January 1, 2028; the text of Sections 10 and 11 and some amendments listed in the bill header are not included in the extracted material, and several provisions in the excerpts are incomplete or cut off.

If enacted, the bill makes it harder for a landlord to remove a tenant quickly in routine cases and gives tenants more tools and protections at early stages. Landlords seeking a pre-judgment writ must post a court-ordered bond and the court must push contested issues to a trial schedule; courts must use set hearing windows and may appoint attorney commissioners. A standardized eviction summons with specific deadlines and resource contacts is required, which will likely increase the number of tenants who respond and assert defenses. At the same time the bill clarifies explicit grounds where landlords may immediately pursue eviction (drug activity, certain criminal arrests, gang activity) and defines notice windows and procedures landlords must follow in many non-cause and cause-based endings of tenancy, including 60-day notice rules in many situations and new rules about when an owner “elects to sell.” The most affected parties are landlords and tenants, plus courts and the state Office of Civil Legal Aid. Landlords will face longer timelines, stricter notice and proof requirements, potential increased vacancy and holding costs from longer notice periods, and added risk of paying damages if a writ was wrongful because of the bond requirement. Tenants who meet the indigency criteria will likely get appointed counsel in many counties, increasing state costs for legal representation and shifting responsibility for funding those attorneys to the state (subject to appropriations); tenants may also have stronger ability to present defenses at show-cause hearings. Courts and county authorities will have added administrative duties to approve commissioners, manage bonds and trials, and verify indigency; several provisions are cut off or reference other sections not included here, so key details about bond amounts, the stay-by-payment rule, and the contents and timing of Sections 10 and 11 are unclear from the provided text.