Washington Court Upholds Process Service of Owner by Publication

In a recent unpublished opinion, the Washington Court of Appeals decided that a condominium association was entitled to serve an owner with a lawsuit by publication.  This decision was based on its conclusion that the association exercised reasonable diligence to personally serve the owner before resorting to service by publication as required by statute. This diligence included attempting to serve the owner on five separate occasions within a month, conducting a three-hour stakeout of the owner's residence, and searching the county's property and tax records for additional addresses for the owner.