Renters want to vindicate their rights without fear of retaliation.  Landlords want to know as much as they can about the people who seek to live in their property.  In Hundtofte v. Encarnacion a fractured Supreme Court resolved a conflict between those two impulses in favor of the landlords.  Renters can force their landlord to sue to evict them if they feel they are being unjustly ushered out of their apartment.  But renters will not be able to keep that lawsuit secret from future landlords who might be wary of renting to litigation-prone tenants.  In order to decide this issue, the Court gave something very much like standing to the county clerk who opposed a Superior Court order to amend county indices.
Continue Reading In Renters v. Landlords, the County Clerk Wins

People waiting to know whether the King County shoreline master program (“SMP”) properly applies with the Burien city limits shouldn’t hold their breath.  That is because the Court of Appeals recently held that the petitioners in Patterson v. Segale lacked standing under the APA  to challenge Burien’s decision that the King County SMP continues to apply to areas within the city limits following Burien’s incorporation in 1993.  After the petitioners settled their underlying dispute with a neighbor about the terms of a development permit issued in accordance with the King County SMP, they no longer could establish any concrete injury resulting from Burien’s decision that could be redressed by a favorable court ruling.
Continue Reading No, We Really Mean It. Parties Have To Have Standing To Challenge An Agency Decision Under The APA.