MONTESANO — A Grays Harbor County judge earlier this month signed off on a settlement between the Washington State Attorney General’s Office and the owners of the Beacon RV Park in Ilwaco, Michael and Denise Werner, resolving a years-long lawsuit that had been filed against the couple for alleged violations of state landlord-tenant and consumer protection laws.

Judge Katherine Svoboda approved a consent decree between the two parties on May 2, which calls for the Werners and their businesses to pay the state $1.18 million over the course of three installments. Brionna Aho, communications director for the AG’s office, confirmed to the Observer that the first payment has already been made.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars that the state receives from the couple will go toward restitution for current and former tenants of the park, Aho said, but added that “the details of the restitution process are still in development.” She noted that most tenants of the park when the Werners first took over have long since left — some going into debt to do so — but about 8-10 tenants still reside at the park.

Pull Quote

‘This resolution gives significant relief to tenants — many of whom are elderly, disabled, low-income or veterans — and provides accountability for the park owners’ illegal conduct.’

Bob Ferguson, Washington state attorney general

Additionally, the settlement clarifies that the Werners cannot collect rent, or seek back rent, from current tenants until they have paid the full amount to the state, which is due by Oct. 29. And, once that full amount has been paid off, the couple can only charge rent if tenants are offered a one-year rental agreement.

“This resolution gives significant relief to tenants — many of whom are elderly, disabled, low-income or veterans — and provides accountability for the park owners’ illegal conduct,” Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson said in a statement.

Multi-year process

The lawsuit was originally filed in Pacific County Superior Court by the AG’s office in August 2022, with the state seeking both a temporary and permanent injunction against the Werners and their businesses over alleged violations of Washington’s landlord-tenant act and consumer protection laws after — and even before — they purchased Beacon RV Park, which is located at the Port of Ilwaco and situated on port-owned land that is leased to the Werners.

The temporary injunction was denied that September by Svoboda, a Grays Harbor Superior Court judge who was tapped to hear the case after the Werners requested that the case be heard by a judge outside of the Pacific County community.

The remainder of the case had continued to move forward since then, and in 2023 Svoboda ruled on two separate occasions that the Werners were not complying with turning over basic discovery information to the AG’s office and ordered the couple to pay thousands of dollars in attorney fees and costs. A special master, retired Judge Dean Lum, was appointed in the case last November following a request from the state and concern by Svoboda that the defendants had misread or been confused by orders she’d issued.

Last December, Svoboda granted a motion for partial summary judgment in the case that the AG’s office filed that fall. The judge levied over $900,000 in penalties against the Werners — the full amount that the state had been seeking.

Svoboda found that eviction and utility shut-off notices issued by the Werners early in their tenure as the park’s owners were unfair, deceptive and in violation of consumer protection laws. The total penalty doled out to the couple included $381,500 in civil penalties, or $3,500 for each of the 109 violations that had been committed, as well as $545,000 in enhanced penalties — another $5,500 per violation — because the notices impacted protected classes including the elderly, disabled, veterans and low-income individuals.

The partial summary judgment ruling did not touch on violations of Washington’s Manufactured/Mobile Housing Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA), and a trial over those allegations had tentatively been scheduled for this summer.

In the spring of 2023, a judge with the state’s Office of Administrative Hearings ruled that the Werners committed 16 violations of Washington’s landlord-tenant law during and after their eviction push. That ruling upheld a cease-and-desist order that the state issued in the summer of 2022, as well as administrative violations that the AG’s office had issued against Beacon RV Park for acting in bad faith and retaliating against tenants for filing complaints with the AG’s office.

A Clark County Superior Court judge granted the state’s petition to enforce the order last October, which had been appealed by the Werners in the Washington State Court of Appeals. As part of the settlement, the Werners agreed to withdraw their appeal.

More concessions

The settlement that the two parties agreed to and was approved by Svoboda this month includes additional non-monetary concessions from the Werners, including the couple being barred from issuing eviction notices to tenants before they’ve actually closed on the purchase or sale of any property covered by the MHLTA.

The Werners are also prohibited from issuing any notice threatening to shut off or restrict access to the utilities of any tenant, save for temporary interruptions for maintenance purposes, and must maintain and protect utilities and common areas like restrooms and showers in a sanitary and safe manner. They also cannot ask a service provider to cease or limit services in order to facilitate the removal of or retaliate against tenants.

Among other things, the couple is also restricted from misleading tenants about the availability of relocation assistance available under the MHLTA, demolishing a home within any property covered by the MHLTA without first complying with proper legal procedures, and failing to maintain proper garbage collection services or allowing rodent infestations after being notified of those conditions.

If the Werners decide to close Beacon RV Park altogether, a park closure notice cannot be issued until after their final payment to the state. The settlement also required any pending eviction notices against current tenants at the park to be dismissed.

Violations of the settlement by the Werners or their businesses can result in a court-enforced civil penalty of up to $125,000 per violation. The settlement also does not prevent the AG’s office from investigating other alleged MHLTA or consumer protection violations by the defendants.