Inspired by our comrades at Don’t Evict PDX, the Puget Sound Tenants Union is calling on our members and supporters to take a stand against evictions in King County! For the time being, we are simply observing and taking notes on the court proceedings. Eventually, we aim to delay and stop evictions altogether!

Currently, eviction hearings take place every weekday (Mon-Fri) at 9AM over Zoom.

Questions? Comments? Email us at courtwatch@soundtenants.org

How-To

  1. Join the Zoom meeting at 9AM sharp on the day you signed up for. Video off, mic muted. Change your display name to “Observer.”

  2. You’ll first enter the virtual waiting room. From here you can join a breakout room. In the virtual waiting room, there will be a schedule on the screen that shows all the cases on the docket (case number, case name, courtroom number).

    If the schedule is empty, or all cases have been struck, then that’s it! Feel free to leave the Zoom meeting at this point.

    If there are cases, we recommend recording the case numbers and case names now.

  3. There are usually 3 Zoom breakout rooms. These correspond to the physical courtrooms in which hearings normally take place during non-COVID times:

    • KCCH (King County Courthouse) room W-325-2 and room W-325-3.

    • MRJC (Maleng Regional Justice Center) room 1J 

    Join a breakout rooms.

  4. Note that not every single case being heard is an eviction case, and not all eviction cases are relevant to us (e.g., commercial eviction). We only want data for residential evictions.

  5. Observe the proceedings and take notes. Try to capture the following information:

    • Case number and case name

    • Names of plaintiff and defendant

    • Names of lawyer or law firm

    • Name of judge

    • Ruling and next steps

    • Name of apartment complex and landlord

  6. Enter your notes into our Google form: http://bit.ly/pstu-court-watch-notes-form

  7. But before submitting, verify that the case is an eviction (i.e., Unlawful Detainer) and that the names of plaintiffs and defendants are spelled correctly.

    • Search for the case number here

    • Verify that the “Charge/Cause of Action” is “Unlawful Detainer.”

    • Click the case number link to verify the names of the participants 

Make sure it's an "Unlawful Detainer"