Washington

Evictions around Washington soar to record high levels • Washington State Standard

Published

2 years ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

Evictions around Washington soar to record high levels • Washington State Standard

Washington is on track to have more eviction filings this year than any other year on record.

Nine counties, including King and Spokane, hit new high marks, and seven others are on their way.

“The state is in an eviction crisis at this point,” said Tim Thomas, research director at the University of California Berkeley’s Urban Displacement Project.

Washington’s policies, like its right to counsel program, have helped keep some of those people from becoming homeless, Thomas told the Senate Housing Committee on Friday. But he said without more action and funding, evictions will rise further.

Some lawmakers are voicing similar concerns.

“The increase in eviction filings is startling and alarming,” Housing Committee Chair Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, said. “There will be a tsunami of homelessness if we don’t handle this correctly.”

Kuderer is moving on from her role in the state Senate next month after she was elected in November to be Washington’s next insurance commissioner.

Evictions dropped significantly during the pandemic, largely due to national and statewide eviction moratoriums and rental assistance programs. Once those programs expired, evictions began to climb again.

One in 50 Washington renters, or about 2%, faced an eviction filing in the last year, according to data from the Urban Displacement Project.

During 2024, Clark, Grant, Jefferson, King, Klickitat, Okanogan, Spokane, Thurston and Whitman counties have already broken their records for the number of eviction filings in a year. Asotin, Columbia, Douglas, Kittitas, Pend Oreille, Skagit and Walla Walla are on track to break theirs this month.

Looking at trends in states similar to Washington, like California and Oregon, Thomas said he expects that evictions will not slow anytime soon.

He said one way the state can attempt to manage the record number of evictions is to expand its right to counsel program, which he called “a really powerful policy counterbalancing the crisis and keeping people housed.”

The program was established in 2021 and requires an attorney to be appointed in eviction proceedings for tenants with incomes below 200% of the federal poverty line. In 2024, that’s one person making $30,120 a year.

Since it launched, the program has handled 22,889 cases. About 81% of tenants in these cases ended up in permanent housing, and about 56% remained in the home subject to the eviction proceeding, according to the Office of Civil Legal Aid, which manages the program.

“The role that this program plays is not only a procedural safeguard,” said Philippe Knab, eviction defense and reentry program manager at the Office of Civil Legal Aid. “This program and these attorneys serve as a safety net.”

But as eviction filings rise, attorneys are struggling to keep up, Knab said. “We are currently experiencing a volume of evictions unlike anything we anticipated,” he said.

And with limited resources, some tenants fall through the cracks, Thomas said.

Just under 45% of tenants facing eviction had legal representation in January 2024, according to research from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. A lack of information on the legal process, psychological barriers and logistical challenges are among the biggest reasons why some tenants never receive representation, Will von Geldern, a University of Washington Ph.D. candidate and researcher, told the Housing Committee.

Attorneys can only help those they can reach, he added.

The Office of Civil Legal Aid is asking lawmakers for $8.8 million in the next two-year budget cycle. That money would go toward continuing funding provided in the last legislative session along with adding five additional attorneys in King County.

This budget request will allow the program to keep pace with the current eviction levels, not expand any services, Knab said. He acknowledged that legislators will have budget struggles this year given a multibillion-dollar deficit.

Along with continuing to fund the right to counsel program, lawmakers will likely look at other policy solutions to ease the growing wave of evictions. Financial assistance to tenants and landlords, caps on certain rent increases and improving access to social services could all be on the table when they return in January.

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Related Topics:evictions Featured housing Office of Civil Legal Aid Rent renters right to counsel Urban Displacement Project

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Washington

Divorces granted July 2-8 in Washington, Benton counties | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Published

6 hours ago

July 12, 2026

Press Room

Divorces granted July 2-8 in Washington, Benton counties | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

The following divorces granted were recorded July 2-8 in the Benton and Washington county clerks’ offices:

BENTON COUNTY

25-1094. Heather Jones v. Michael Mazzarisi

25-1993. Sarah Waddle v. Brandon Waddle

26-46. Samantha Hines v. Garrett Hines

26-266. Donna Boyd v. Russell Boyd

26-329. Tara Whitwam v. Brett Whitwam

26-354. April Timboe v. Matthew Timboe

26-397. Troy Hull v. Kaley McManamon

26-419. Mark Hagel v. Michelle Hagel

26-437. Deborah Luper v. Donald Luper

26-470. Amanda Russell v. Christopher Russell

26-561. Audrey Mosher v. Dustin Mosher

26-562. Jacob King v. Ashley King

26-649. Chris Edwards v. Sara Edwards

26-664. David Carpenter v. Hannah Holtrey

26-774. Lauren Armfield v. Alexander Armfield

26-775. Sandra Saldana v. Luis Saldana

26-785. Maritza Campos v. Luis De Los Santos

26-798. Darell Shepard v. Rachel Lipscomb

26-802. Jeffery Nicholas v. Tracy Nicholas

26-809. Alicia Moreland v. Travis Moreland

26-814. Mellisa Dugger v. Matthew Crowne

26-817. Sabra Utting v. Derek Utting

26-825. Laura Wortman v. Brian Wortman

26-827. Laura Dean v. Seth Dean

26-845. William Austen v. Krystal Austen

26-846. Janine Robin v. Henry Robin

WASHINGTON COUNTY

24-472. Breayonda Bendickson v. Zackery Thompson

25-1333. Joshua Stephens v. Tiffany Pershall

25-1475. Jacqueline Lybrand v. Zachary Lybrand

25-1720. Jennifer McMahon v. Timothy McMahon

26-10. Janiky Rosario Madera v. Angel Ortiz Fuentes

26-225. Carol Kaufman v. Charles Axtell

26-268. Elizabeth Lasiter v. Prashanth Kumaresan

26-367. Shawn Harp v. Angela Harp

26-414. Patricia Johnson v. Robert Pritchard

26-518. Francisco Ramirez v. Nicole Franz

26-633. Debra Andrews v. Randy Brown

26-695. Jorge Azahares v. Dianelis Rodriguez

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Washington

Hulking four-star Arizona OL commits to Cal over Washington football

Published

17 hours ago

July 11, 2026

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Hulking four-star Arizona OL commits to Cal over Washington football

The Washington Huskies saw one of their most hotly contested offensive line targets in the 2027 class go elsewhere on Saturday afternoon when four-star offensive lineman DaJohn Yarborough announced his pledge to the California Golden Bears

The 6-foot-5, 340-pound product of Basha High School in Arizona, who is ranked as the nation’s No. 426 overall prospect and No. 25 interior offensive lineman by the 247Sports Composite, picked coach Tosh Lupoi and the Golden Bears out of a final four that also included Florida State, Mississippi State, and UW.

Although his junior year was cut short due to a fractured ankle, Fisch and offensive line coach Michael Switzer kept up a strong relationship with the hulking prospect, who has the size, physicality, and skill set the pair looks for from early contributors up front. However,

“The big man slides smoothly in pass protection and balances his weight well, always finding himself on the winning end of collisions with defenders,” Huskies Wire’s Alex Katson wrote in an evaluation of his film. “With such prototypical size and technique, Yarborough profiles as a player who could find himself in the NFL rather quickly with the right coaching staff during his time in college.”

As Washington continues to build up its offensive line for the rigors of the Big Ten, Yarborough would have been viewed as a promising building block alongside Freshman All-American John Mills, former five-star Kodi Greene, and former four-star Champ Taulealea, who should make up the core of Switzer’s unit in 2027.

While the Huskies had consistently been viewed among the top suitors for Yarborough’s services, but Lupoi’s staff has shown early that it can make a big impact quickly on recruits all over the West. Without Yarborough, Washington’s 2027 class consists of three offensive linemen: four-star interior prospect Gecova Doyal, four-star center Reis Russell, and three-star offensive tackle Tye Kennedy.

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Washington

Chisholm’s homer keys 3-run 9th as the Yankees rally past Washington 5-3 – WTOP News

Published

1 day ago

July 11, 2026

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Chisholm’s homer keys 3-run 9th as the Yankees rally past Washington 5-3 – WTOP News

Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the New York Yankees over the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to lift the New York Yankees over the Washington Nationals 5-3 on Friday night.

The Yankees and Nationals rank 1-2 in the major leagues in home runs, and all but one run in this game came via the long ball. Ben Rice hit his 29th of the season for the Yankees, and Jasson Domínguez and Austin Wells also went deep for New York.

Keibert Ruiz and James Wood homered on consecutive pitches in the seventh to give Washington a 3-2 lead, but in the ninth, the Nationals brought in left-hander Matt Krook — who had allowed 22 earned runs in 12 2/3 big league innings dating to 2023. Krook (0-1) yielded a one-out single by Domínguez, and Chisholm followed with his 13th homer.

Wells added a solo shot off Justin Lawrence to make it 5-3.

David Bednar (3-3) won in relief, working the final two innings. The Yankees remained four games behind first-place Tampa Bay in the AL East.

Rice homered in the first off Carson Palmquist, but the New York designated hitter fouled a pitch off his right leg in the fifth and was shaken up. He was able to stay in the game.

By that time, Domínguez had given the Yankees a 2-1 lead with a homer off Zack Littell (8-6) in the fourth.

The game was delayed two hours at the start, and a wet field might have prevented Washington from tying it in the sixth. New York starter Ryan Weathers allowed a one-out double to CJ Abrams. Then Jacob Young followed with a single. Abrams looked likely to score, but he slipped rounding third and had to stay there.

Fernando Cruz then replaced Weathers and struck out the next two hitters to strand both runners.

New York’s Paul Goldschmidt singled in the first to snap an 0-for-34 drought, and he also reached on an infield hit in the sixth.

Amed Rosario of the Yankees struck out in all three of his plate appearances and made two errors at third base before being lifted for a pinch-hitter.