What the end of a federal eviction moratorium means for Washington

When the Supreme Court ruled against the federal eviction moratorium, that had some implications for Washington state.

State and local eviction rules are not threatened by the Supreme Court decision, according to Edmund Witter, a lawyer with the King County Housing Justice Project.

But the CDC’s federal eviction moratorium did provide a legal backstop, patching up a few loopholes in state and local laws.

With this backstop now gone, Witter said some local evictions will likely squeeze through, depending on the strength of those laws.

“In Seattle you’re probably protected better under existing local laws than you would have been under the CDC moratorium, so the Supreme Court’s decision will probably not have an impact on tenants in Seattle,” Witter said.

But for the rest of King County, and for the rest of Washington State, Witter said we’ll probably start seeing more evictions showing up in the court system, especially after September 30.