The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically upended the legal system five years ago, and in many respects, continues to do so. In March 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which among many things provided economic relief to struggling tenants.

The CARES Act first put a temporary moratorium in place on all evictions of all tenants living in housing units owned and maintained by lessors or landlords receiving federal funds. Then, after the moratorium period expired, landlords would have to give these tenants at least 30 days' notice before starting eviction proceedings.

This past month, in The Housing Authority of King County v. Knight, the Washington Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the 30-day notice provision of the CARES Act applied to evictions for non-payment of rent or for all evictions.

In Knight, the King County Housing Authority served a woman and her children with a notice to vacate her rental unit in 3 days based on nuisance and multiple reports of criminal and drug activity. After the Knight family failed to leave, the Housing Authority filed a complaint for an unlawful detainer. But a King County commissioner dismissed its petition, concluding that the CARES Act required 30 days' notice, not 3 days' notice.

The Housing Authority appealed to Division 1 of the Court of Appeals, which overturned the commissioner. The Washington Supreme Court ultimately took the appeal because, in a similar case, Division 2 of the appellate court ruled that the CARES Act requires 30-day notice for all evictions.

After carefully analyzing the federal statute, the Washington Supreme Court ruled that the CARES Act requires 30 days' notice only when evicting a tent for nonpayment of rent. In reaching this conclusion, the court considered the primary purpose of the act and the specific statutory language.

Congress passed the CARES Act to provide economic support for suffering tenants during the pandemic, “not to alter the general eviction laws of every state.” As for the specific language, the original moratorium was limited to evictions for nonpayment of rent, so the Congress intended to limit the 30-day notice requirement to evictions for nonpayment of rent.