How long do I have to move out after a trustee’s sale in Washington?

The 20-day rule after a Washington trustee’s sale

Washington’s Deed of Trust Act gives the purchaser at a trustee’s sale the right to possession on the 20th day following the sale. That applies to the former owner and to anyone else living in the house who isn’t a tenant, such as a relative or a friend staying in the spare room. The count starts at the auction. It doesn’t wait for a letter.

Most people expect a formal notice to arrive after the sale and start a countdown of its own. Many new owners do send a letter asking you to leave, some within a day or two. The law generally treats the notice of trustee’s sale you received months earlier as your warning, though. Pull that notice out of your folder and look for a paragraph addressed to occupants or tenants. It usually states the 20-day rule in a sentence or two.

Twenty days is short. You can pack a house in that time. Finding a rental and getting approved while you pack is harder, and so is booking a truck on short notice at the end of the month.

Who owns the house the morning after the auction

The winning bidder receives a trustee’s deed, which gets recorded with the county. That bidder is usually one of two kinds of owner, and they behave differently.

Often it’s the lender. A lender can bid up to what it’s owed without bringing new money, and if nobody outbids it, the house becomes bank-owned. From then on you’ll hear from an asset manager or a local agent hired to get the house empty and listed. They tend to work from a checklist, and they often have room to offer money for a quick, clean move.

The other possibility is an outside buyer, usually an investor who bid at the location named in your notice. An investor bought the house without seeing the inside. The first thing they want is to walk through it, and the second is to know when you’re leaving. Expect a knock on the door soon after the sale.

Either way, from sale day forward you are living in a house you no longer own. Being calm and specific with whoever contacts you tends to earn some flexibility. Write down their name, company, and phone number, and keep every text and email.

What happens if you’re still there on day 21

Nothing happens automatically on day 21. In general, the new owner can’t change the locks or carry your things to the curb on their own. To remove a former owner, they file an unlawful detainer case, which is Washington’s eviction lawsuit, in the superior court for the county where the house sits. In Pierce County that’s the courthouse in the County-City Building in downtown Tacoma. In King County it may be the courthouse in Seattle or the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.

The case runs on the court’s schedule. You’re served with papers and a date to respond, and if the court rules for the new owner, it issues a writ of restitution. The county sheriff serves the writ and, after the short period stated on it, returns to put the new owner in possession. Anything still in the house at that point may be removed or stored under rules that leave you very little time to get it back.

Staying past day 20 can cost you in other ways. An eviction case puts your name in a court file that future landlords may find, and a judgment can include the new owner’s court costs and, in some cases, other amounts. It usually ends any talk of paying you to leave. If you believe something was wrong with the sale itself, such as a notice you never received, take that to an attorney, and do it before the 20 days are gone.

Cash for keys: what it is and what to get in writing

“Cash for keys” is an offer from the new owner to pay you to move out by a set date and leave the house in an agreed condition. No law requires it. It exists because an eviction takes time and money, and a signed move-out date with a clean handover is worth something to whoever now owns the place. Asking about it is reasonable, whether the buyer was the bank or an investor.

Before you agree, get these points in writing, signed by the new owner or someone with authority to sign for them:

• The amount, and exactly when and how it’s paid. Payment often happens at a walk-through after the house is empty.
• The move-out date, and what happens if you need a few more days.
• The condition expected: broom clean, belongings and trash gone, keys and garage remotes left on the counter.
• That fixtures stay. Taking appliances, light fixtures, or cabinets usually cancels the payment.

Read the whole agreement. If it asks you to give up any claim about the sale or about surplus funds, have an attorney look at it before you sign. Keep a copy, and take dated photos of every room on the day you hand over the keys, including the entry, the floors, and the empty closets.

If tenants live in the home

A tenant renting from the former owner has more time. Washington generally requires the new owner to give a tenant at least 60 days’ written notice before the tenant has to leave, and a federal law protecting tenants in foreclosure can add more, particularly for a tenant with a genuine lease. Rent and the security deposit get complicated quickly once ownership changes, and those questions belong with an attorney or a tenant hotline.

If you own the house and rent part of it out, such as a basement apartment or a backyard cottage, the rules split. You fall under the 20-day rule, and your tenant has their own notice rights. Tell your tenant about the sale date early. They need time to plan as much as you do.

Finding out the sale result, and any surplus

Trustee’s sales are sometimes continued to a later date, so don’t assume the auction happened on the day printed in your notice. Call the trustee at the number on the notice and ask whether the sale went forward, who bought the house, and what the winning bid was. The trustee’s deed will also show up in the county’s recorded documents, which you can search online through the Pierce County Auditor or the King County Recorder’s Office.

The bid matters. If the house sold for more than the loan and the costs of the sale, the extra is generally deposited with the superior court clerk, and you can claim what’s left after other liens. The page on how foreclosure works in Washington explains where that money goes. Be careful with anyone who calls offering to recover it for a percentage.

Using the weeks before the sale date instead

Everything above assumes the auction has already happened. If it hasn’t, you still own the house, and some choices are open now that close at the sale. You can generally reinstate the loan until eleven days before the sale date. You can sell through a regular listing if there’s equity, or ask the lender about a short sale if there isn’t. The comparison of a short sale and a foreclosure in Washington goes through that tradeoff, and the guide to what you’d walk away with from a sale shows how to estimate your number.

Even if you’ve decided to let the sale happen, the weeks before it are the easiest time to move. Start rental applications now, while you can explain your situation on your own terms. Book the truck for a date before the sale. Schedule the utilities in your name to shut off or transfer, so final bills don’t trail you. Then file a change of address with the post office, because the trustee and the court clerk may need to reach you after you’ve left.