Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 877801 orderandopinion.pdf

Citation: Wash. Court of Appeals published opinion — 877801 orderandopinion.pdf
Jurisdiction: Washington (state)
Source verification: official_capture_completeness_unverified
Original Source: https://www.courts.wa.gov/opinions/pdf/877801%20orderandopinion.pdf ↗

Related Parts of This Source

Full Text

1,743 chars

In any action brought by the tenant to recover the deposit, the prevailing party
shall additionally be entitled to the cost of suit or arbitration including a
reasonable attorneys’ fee.
12
The amendments to RCW 59.18.280(2) that have occurred since the Supreme Court’s
decision in Silver are not relevant to this discussion.
21
For the current opinion, go to https://www.lexisnexis.com/clients/wareports/.
87780-1-I/22

plaintiffs obtained legal representation, TAG Realty later offered to refund only a part of

the Cromars’ deposit without any acknowledgement of legal fees that they had already

incurred. Indeed, the Cromars were correct in their suspicion that TAG Realty’s unlawful

conduct was not limited to them. Despite its initial opposition to the Cromars’ class

claims, discovery later revealed that TAG Realty unlawfully withheld the deposits of at

least 13 additional tenants. The Cromars were transparent with the trial court that

though their suspicions of TAG Realty’s repeated unlawful conduct were confirmed,

they did not believe the number of identified tenants was large enough to achieve class

certification under CR 23.

It is axiomatic that class actions serve a critical function in our legal justice

system. E.g., Darling v. Champion Home Builders Co., 96 Wn.2d 701, 706, 638 P.2d

1249 (1982); Chavez v. Our Lady of Lourdes Hosp. at Pasco, 190 Wn.2d 507, 515, 415

P.3d 224 (2018). The objectives of class action suits “include the resolution of many

individual claims in a single action and the elimination of the repetitious and possibly

inconsistent adjudications involving common questions or similar relief.” Darling, 96

Wn.2d at 706. Class actions improve access to the courts by providing affective