On March 18, the governor of Washington signed into law the Uniform Consumer Debt Default Judgments Act, which expands consumer protections in debt collection lawsuits by imposing new complaint and disclosure requirements on plaintiffs seeking default judgments. The law builds on protections first enacted in 2020 for consumers facing actions by debt buyers (covered by InfoBytes here), broadening those earlier requirements to now cover all holders of purchased debt and their affiliates, while also imposing new disclosure obligations in all actions to collect consumer debt. The law covers default judgments in actions to collect unsecured consumer debts, secured consumer debts pursued solely for money judgments, and deficiency balances, but excludes actions to take possession of or dispose of property or to collect debts owed to a government entity. For covered actions, complaints must include key account and debt details such as creditor name, account identifier, balance, and relevant dates. Plaintiffs must also allege proper venue and statute of limitations compliance, attach documentation proving the debt, and, for purchased debt, show an unbroken chain of assignment.

The law also requires that complaints served on consumers include a notice, in no less than 10-point font, warning that a default judgment may be entered and that any resulting judgment could remain in effect for up to 20 years. The notice must warn of possible asset seizure or wage garnishment and provide legal aid contact information. If a plaintiff fails to comply with the law’s requirements, a court may deny a motion for default judgment and issue a notice of intent to dismiss unless the plaintiff files a compliant amended complaint within 30 days. The law declares violations committed while collecting purchased debt to be unfair acts or practices under the state’s consumer protection act and provides that any consumer waiver of the act’s requirements is void. The new law takes effect on January 1, 2027.