This bill adds multiple new sections to chapter 59.18 RCW to create a limited alternative remedy allowing a property owner or an authorized agent to request immediate removal by the county sheriff of persons unlawfully occupying a residential dwelling. It prescribes a required, signed and verified complaint form that must be presented to the sheriff and requires the sheriff, after verifying the complainant’s status, to serve a notice to immediately vacate, put the owner in possession, attempt to verify occupant identities, and, where lawful, arrest persons for trespass, outstanding warrants, or other causes. The sheriff may be asked to stand by while locks are changed and personal property is removed and may charge a reasonable hourly rate payable by the requester; the bill states the sheriff is not liable for loss or damage and the owner or agent is not liable unless removal was wrongful. The act also includes a severability clause. The bill creates new criminal offenses and civil remedies: it adds misdemeanors for making false written statements with fraudulent intent to obtain property and for knowingly presenting a false document purporting to convey real property rights to detain or remain on property, and it creates a class A felony for knowingly listing or advertising residential property for sale or for renting/leasing when the person lacks title or lawful interest. It creates a civil cause of action for wrongful removal with remedies including restoration to possession, actual costs and damages, statutory damages equal to triple the fair market rent of the dwelling, court costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees, and requires courts to advance such causes on the calendar. The text supplied does not include exact new RCW section numbers, does not define key terms used in the new provisions (for example “authorized agent,” “residential dwelling,” “unlawful occupant,” “reasonable hourly rate,” or “without delay”), does not provide sentencing ranges beyond labeling offenses as misdemeanor or class A felony, and does not show how the new sections integrate with other provisions of chapter 59.18 RCW or other statutes. The sample complaint asks for a purchase date but the bill text provided does not explain the role or relevance of that date.

If enacted, the law would give property owners or their agents a quick, paperwork-driven route to ask the county sheriff to clear people the owner says are unlawfully living in a residence: the owner must file a signed, verified complaint with ID or proof of agency, the sheriff must verify the claim, serve an immediate vacate notice, put the owner back in possession, and can stand by while locks are changed or property removed for a reasonable hourly fee paid by the requester; occupants could be arrested for trespass or outstanding warrants. The change also creates a civil remedy for people wrongfully removed that can restore possession and require payment of costs, attorneys’ fees, and statutory damages equal to triple the dwelling’s fair market rent, and it adds new criminal offenses for filing false statements or documents and for selling or renting property without title. County sheriffs and their offices are most directly affected because they gain verification, notice, and possible standby duties that could increase workload and require collecting fees, while property owners gain a faster removal option but take on upfront verification obligations and face significant financial risk if a removal is found wrongful or if they submit false documents. Occupants face a higher risk of immediate eviction and arrest. Key practical uncertainties remain because the text does not define several central terms (for example, “authorized agent,” “reasonable hourly rate,” and “without delay”) or explain how these procedures align with existing eviction law, so implementation could vary based on unanswered details.