with any ordinary meaning of the word "found" or the statutory provision giving
16 Hall, 178 Wn. App. at 816, 820.
17 Hall. 178 Wn. App. at 820.
18 Hall, 178 Wn. App. at 820-21.
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the landlord an alternative method of service by posting and mailing a notice to
quit the premises.19 The Landlords complied with RCW 59.12.040 by taping a
copy of the notice to the front door and sending a copy through the mail
addressed to the Tenants because Faciszewski could not find them.
Tenants rely on Weiss v. Glemp,20 where our Supreme Court held that the
plaintiff's service did not satisfy the requirements for serving a civil summons21
because the process server saw the defendant through a window, did not give
the documents to the defendant's secretary who came to the door, and left the
documents for the defendant on an outside windowsill. In Weiss, the court
analyzed RCW 4.28.080(15),22 a statute that does not apply to this case.
Instead, as the parties agree, RCW 59.12.040 applies. Unlike RCW
4.28.080(15), RCW 59.12.040 provides for service of a notice by affixing a copy
of the notice to a conspicuous place on the premises and sending a copy by mail
if a suitable person "cannot be found."23 The legislature created a more forgiving
process for serving an unlawful detainer preeviction notice24 as opposed to a
summons in a civil action.25
19 RCW 59.12.040(3).
20 127 Wn.2d 726, 731-33, 903 P.2d 455 (1995).
21 See RCW 4.28.080(15).
22 Weiss, 127 Wn.2d at 731.
23 RCW 59.12.040(3).
24 RCW 59.12.040.
25 RCW 4.28.080(15).
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NO. 72611-1-1/9
Adequate Notice