representation and damage awards are often too small to be lucrative for litigators.
Sabbeth, supra, at 119-28, 121 (“The obstacle for housing safety enforcement is that
it is not a good financial investment.”). The availability of double damages, attorney
fees, and collective litigation—such as the class action Silver sought to represent in
12
See also BRETT THEODOS, SARA MCTARNAGHAN & CLAUDIA COULTON, URBAN INST.,
FAMILY RESIDENTIAL INSTABILITY: WHAT CAN STATES AND LOCALITIES DO? 4 (2018) (“[L]ost
income from withheld security deposits and landlord screening for eviction records limits a
tenant’s ability to access stable housing.”).
13
Within the population of low-income Washingtonians, Black, Indigenous, and other
people of color and people with disabilities experience legal problems with rental housing at
disproportionately high rates. 2015 WASHINGTON STATE CIVIL LEGAL NEEDS STUDY UPDATE,
supra, at 10 (“While fewer than one-third (27.8%) of all low-income households suffer at least one
problem with rental housing, 42.9% of Native American households, 41.5% of African-American
households, and 37.8% of households that include a person with a disability have rental housing
problems.”). These issues will be exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, which has increased these
disparities and will likely have impacts on housing into the future.
14
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
Silver v. Rudeen Mgmt. Co.
No. 98024-1
this suit—demonstrate the importance of statutes that impose strict obligations and
meaningful remedies to hold landlords accountable to respecting tenants’ rights.
The RLTA is a remedial statute that must be “construed liberally in order to