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The
unlawful detainer statute sets out in RCW 59.12.040 the ways in which a
notice such as a 3-day pay or vacate must be served to give the court jurisdiction
for the unlawful detainer. There are three ways to serve a notice, and the
ways are in order of preference.
The first way is by personally serving the notice on the person named in
the notice.
If you cannot personally serve the person named, you default to the second
method of service. For that method, you must go to the unit the notice applies
to, knock on the door and if someone other than the named person answers
the door, give them a copy of the notice and then you must mail a copy of
the notice to the named person at the unit address.
The third way of service is to knock on the unit door, and if no one answers
the door, to affix a copy of the notice on the door (you should put the
notice in an envelope with the named person's name on the envelope) and
tape it to the outside of the door. You must then also mail a copy of the
notice to the named person at the unit address.
If you have to mail a copy of the notice, the mailing only has to be first
class. It does not have to be certified or by return receipt.
If you have to use either the second or third method of service, you must
first knock on the door or the service of the notice is invalid and the
court may throw out the eviction case.
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