Washington claim families

Negligence / personal injury

• PURE COMPARATIVE FAULT: contributory fault diminishes recovery proportionately but does not bar it (RCW 4.22.005) — the inverse of North Carolina's complete bar.
• Three-year clock (RCW 4.16.080) composes with THE COMMENCEMENT TRAP: filing or service tentatively commences, and the other act must follow within 90 days (RCW 4.16.170).

RCW 4.22.005 · RCW 4.16.080

Consumer Protection Act

• The five Hangman Ridge elements (pointer — verify before citing) govern the private action for unfair or deceptive acts (RCW 19.86.020).
• Treble damages are DISCRETIONARY and capped by the statute's own proviso at twenty-five thousand dollars for 19.86.020 violations (RCW 19.86.090); fees ride the statute.
• The chapter carries its own limitations clock (RCW 19.86.120).

RCW 19.86.020 · RCW 19.86.090 · RCW 19.86.120

Contract

• Written contracts and accounts receivable ride the six-year clock (RCW 4.16.040); unwritten contract liability rides the three-year clock (RCW 4.16.080).
• Goods contracts at $500 or more meet the UCC statute of frauds (RCW 62A.2-201).

RCW 4.16.040 · RCW 4.16.080

Medical malpractice

• MANDATORY MEDIATION before trial (RCW 7.70.100).
• Three years or one year from discovery — bounded by the EIGHT-YEAR repose with fraud/concealment/foreign-body tolling (RCW 4.16.350).
• NO certificate of merit: the struck former RCW 7.70.150 stays absent (Putman v. Wenatchee — pointer).

RCW 7.70.100 · RCW 4.16.350

Claims against government

• THE STANDSTILL: no suit against a local entity until sixty calendar days after claim presentment — with the limitations period tolled during the window (RCW 4.96.020).
• State-defendant claims ride chapter 4.92's parallel machinery — the presentment lane is jurisdiction-flavored; treat the claim form as load-bearing.

RCW 4.96.020

Unlawful detainer / RLTA

• The statute makes a holdover tenant LIABLE FOR unlawful detainer on enumerated grounds (RCW 59.12.030) — a summary, statutory lane where notice defects are outcome-level.
• Residential notice law moved repeatedly in recent sessions — the loaded text controls, never memory.

RCW 59.12.030 · RCW 59.18.365

Insurance bad faith / IFCA

• The good-faith duty binds ALL insurance actors — insurer, insured, providers, representatives (RCW 48.01.030).
• The Insurance Fair Conduct Act lane (RCW 48.30.015 — pointer) adds notice mechanics and enhanced remedies for first-party claimants.

RCW 48.01.030

Wage and hour

• Attorney fees SHALL be assessed against the employer on a successful wage-recovery judgment (RCW 49.48.030).
• Willful-withholding exposure (chapter 49.52 — pointer) doubles the stakes.

RCW 49.48.030

Construction liens

• The lien attaches for the contract price of labor, services, materials, or equipment furnished at the owner's instance (RCW 60.04.021) — the chapter's notice and recording clocks are strict and short.

RCW 60.04.021

Defamation / privacy torts

• Libel and slander ride the TWO-year clock (RCW 4.16.100) — a year shorter than general injury.
• Any public-expression-adjacent claim must be screened for UPEPA exposure (RCW 4.105) before filing.

RCW 4.16.100

UPEPA exposure screening

• A claim targeting protected public expression invites the special motion (14-day pre-filing notice) and fee-shifting — and a voluntary dismissal with prejudice ESTABLISHES the movant prevailed (RCW 4.105.060).

RCW 4.105.020 · RCW 4.105.090