Flagship Practice Area
Personal Injury Involving Landlord Accountability: Representing Domestic Violence Survivors.
Corporate landlords count on survivors not knowing their rights. When they violate survivor protection laws, disclose abuse reports, or pursue wrongful evictions rooted in domestic or sexual violence — they create legal liability. Barzey Law was built specifically to pursue these cases.
Washington State
Direct Litigation
Barzey Law is licensed in Washington State and takes these cases to court. If you are a Washington State resident facing a housing crisis tied to domestic or sexual violence — a lease you cannot escape, a landlord who will not act, or an eviction you did not deserve — we represent you directly.
- Full representation in WA state courts
- Wrongful eviction of domestic/sexual violence survivors
- Landlord negligence and failure-to-protect claims
- Lease termination rights enforcement for survivors
- Illegal credit reporting tied to survivor status
Nationwide — Including California
Case Consulting & Co-Counsel
Outside Washington State? Attorney Barzey is available as a case consultant or co-counsel to the licensed attorney of record in your jurisdiction — and as a resource to domestic violence organizations supporting survivors. Survivors who need help understanding their situation are also welcome to reach out for an informational consultation.
- Available in all 50 states, including California
- Attorney-to-attorney engagement only
- Strategy review and case analysis
- Identifying applicable federal and state protections
- No change of representation required
The Difference a Focused Practice Makes
Most attorneys have never seen a case like yours. This practice was built around it.
Deep Case Knowledge
Barzey Law focuses exclusively on the intersection of personal injury, landlord negligence, and domestic and sexual violence survivor protection law — not as a side practice, but as the entire practice.
A Proven Framework
The litigation strategy used at Barzey Law has produced results, including a settlement exceeding $100,000 against a major corporate real estate giant. This is not a new approach — it is a tested one.
Survivors Are Believed Here
Many survivors are told their situation is not a legal matter. At Barzey Law, every inquiry is taken seriously and evaluated on its merits — because the law often provides more protection than people realize.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Situations We Handle
Does This Sound Like Your Situation?
These are the kinds of cases we handle — situations where domestic violence or sexual violence is the underlying factor that led to a housing crisis, a wrongful eviction, or illegal credit reporting.
The Landlord Forced You to Stay — Then Told Your Abuser You Were Leaving
You reported the abuse and asked to leave. The property management company's policies required you to stay an extra 30 days. Then they disclosed your report — that you came in, that you were leaving, that you were afraid — directly to your abuser. That disclosure is not just a policy failure. It may be a serious legal violation.
You Left Cleanly — and Got Evicted Anyway
You turned in your keys. You paid everything owed. You moved on. Months later, you found out a default judgment had been entered against you in an eviction you never knew about — because your ex-partner's eviction included your name and you had no notice. That judgment is now on your rental history, following you from state to state.
Attorneys Told You That You Don't Have a Case
You have heard it before. "This isn't something we handle." "You probably can't win." "It's not worth pursuing." Those answers are not always right. Attorney Barzey was told the same thing — and settled for over one hundred thousand dollars. If you have been turned away, that is not the end of the road.
Trapped in a Lease with Your Abuser
You signed a lease with someone who has since become your abuser. You want to leave, but your name is on the lease and you fear the legal and financial consequences of breaking it. Washington State law may provide a path to terminate that lease — and if your landlord failed to maintain a safe environment, you may have additional claims.
What We Litigate in Washington State
Every case we take involves domestic violence or sexual violence as the underlying factor — the wrongful eviction, the credit reporting harm, the landlord's failure to act all flow from that. Outside WA? We consult on these same case types nationwide.
Forced Holdover After Reporting Abuse
When a property management company's policies require a survivor of domestic or sexual violence to remain in a unit past the lease expiration after reporting abuse, that policy may violate state and federal survivor protection laws — and create direct liability.
Disclosure of Abuse Report to the Abuser
Disclosing to an abuser that their victim reported domestic or sexual violence — including that they came to the office, what they said, or that they planned to leave — can constitute a serious violation of privacy and survivor protection statutes, and may expose the landlord to significant liability.
Wrongful Eviction of a Domestic or Sexual Violence Survivor
Being named in an eviction proceeding without notice — particularly after vacating the unit, paying all amounts owed, and returning keys — when the underlying situation involved domestic or sexual violence is a textbook wrongful eviction. Damages can include credit repair and compensation.
Illegal Rental Credit Reporting Tied to Survivor Status
A wrongful eviction judgment reported to rental credit bureaus — stemming from a domestic or sexual violence situation — can follow a survivor for years, blocking housing in state after state. We pursue claims to clear that record and recover damages for the harm caused.
Landlord Failure to Protect Against a Known Abuser
When a landlord is aware that a co-tenant is committing domestic or sexual violence against another tenant and fails to act — or actively makes the situation worse — that inaction or misconduct can create legal liability for the harm that follows.
Intentional & Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress
When a landlord or property manager's conduct toward a domestic or sexual violence survivor is so extreme or reckless that it causes severe emotional harm — disclosing abuse to the abuser, retaliating against a survivor who asserted their rights, or deliberately prolonging a housing crisis — that conduct can give rise to claims for both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.
Someone Who Has Been There
Attorney Barzey is not just an attorney who handles these cases. She is a survivor who lived through exactly this — the forced holdover, the disclosure to the abuser, the eviction she never knew about, the default judgment, the rental history that followed her across state lines for years.
She was told she didn't have a case. She won anyway. That experience shapes every consultation, every case strategy, and every decision about whether to fight.
If You Have Been Told You Don't Have a Case — Call Anyway
A free 15-minute consultation is available — for survivors, for attorneys, and for DV organizations. We will listen, explain what the law allows, and help figure out the next step together.