Wash. Rev. Code » Title 61 · Chapter 61.24
Revised Code of Washington

Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010 (2026)

✓ current as of May 2026
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(1) The trustee of a deed of trust under this chapter shall be:
(a) Any domestic corporation or domestic limited liability corporation incorporated under Title 23B, 25, *30, 31, 32, or 33 RCW of which at least one officer is a Washington resident; or
(b) Any title insurance company authorized to insure title to real property under the laws of this state, or any title insurance agent licensed under chapter 48.17 RCW; or
(c) Any attorney who is an active member of the Washington state bar association at the time the attorney is named trustee; or
(d) Any professional corporation incorporated under chapter 18.100 RCW, any professional limited liability company formed under chapter 25.15 RCW, any general partnership, including limited liability partnerships, formed under **chapter 25.04 RCW, all of whose shareholders, members, or partners, respectively, are either licensed attorneys or entities, provided all of the owners of those entities are licensed attorneys, or any domestic corporation wholly owned by any of the entities under this subsection (1)(d); or
(e) Any agency or instrumentality of the United States government; or
(f) Any national bank, savings bank, or savings and loan association chartered under the laws of the United States.
(2) The trustee may resign at its own election or be replaced by the beneficiary. The trustee shall give prompt written notice of its resignation to the beneficiary. The resignation of the trustee shall become effective upon the recording of the notice of resignation in each county in which the deed of trust is recorded. If a trustee is not appointed in the deed of trust, or upon the resignation, incapacity, disability, absence, or death of the trustee, or the election of the beneficiary to replace the trustee, the beneficiary shall appoint a trustee or a successor trustee. Only upon recording the appointment of a successor trustee in each county in which the deed of trust is recorded, the successor trustee shall be vested with all powers of an original trustee.
(3) The trustee or successor trustee shall have no fiduciary duty or fiduciary obligation to the grantor or other persons having an interest in the property subject to the deed of trust.
(4) The trustee or successor trustee has a duty of good faith to the borrower, beneficiary, and grantor.
[ 2012 c 185 s 13; 2009 c 292 s 7; 2008 c 153 s 1; 1998 c 295 s 2; 1991 c 72 s 58; 1987 c 352 s 1; 1981 c 161 s 1; 1975 1st ex.s. c 129 s 1; 1965 c 74 s 1.]

Notes:

Reviser's note: *(1) Title 30 RCW was recodified and/or repealed pursuant to 2014 c 37.
**(2) Chapter 25.04 RCW was repealed in its entirety by 1998 c 103 s 1308.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 83 cases (14 in the last 5 years), 1987–2026 · leading case: Bavand v. OneWest Bank, FSB, 309 P.3d 636 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013).
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Bavand v. OneWest Bank, FSB, 309 P.3d 636 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 9× “¶18 Former RCW 61.24.010(2) (2009) states: The trustee may resign at its own election or be replaced by the beneficiary .”
Walker v. Quality Loan Serv. Corp., 176 Wash. App. 294 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013). · cites it 8× “” 7 The “trustee” is “the person designated as the trustee in the deed of trust or appointed under RCW 61.24.010(2).” 8 Former RCW 61.24.010(2) (2008) states, The trustee may resign at its own election or be replaced by the beneficiary .”
Klem v. Washington Mut. Bank, 295 P.3d 1179 (Wash. 2013). · cites it 5× “However, the judicially imposed “fiduciary” standard applies, at the latest, only in cases arising prior to the 2008 amendment of RCW 61.24.010. The 2008 amendment expressly rejected the “fiduciary” standard.”
Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 326 P.3d 768 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014). · cites it 7× “185, § 9); see also RCW 61.24.010(2) (permitting the resignation of a trustee named in a deed of trust and the appointment of a successor trustee).”
Chettie Mcaffee v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc., 370 P.3d 25 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 4× “RCW 61.24.010(2); Bavand, 176 Wn. App. at 487 .”
Lyons v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 336 P.3d 1142 (Wash. 2014). · cites it 3× “030(7) in relation to the beneficiary declaration and a breach of the duty of good faith under RCW 61.24.010(4). The trial court focused on the issue of whether Lyons could bring a claim for damages under the DTA in the absence of a trustee’s sale, and there was almost no…”
Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 355 P.3d 1100 (Wash. 2015). · cites it 3× “030(7), which requires a trustee to have proof that the beneficiary is the owner of the promissory note before issuing a notice of trustee sale, and RCW 61.24.010(4), which imposes a duty of good faith on the trustee.”
Frias v. Asset Foreclosure Servs., Inc., 334 P.3d 529 (Wash. 2014). · cites it 3× “RCW 61.24.010 creates a duty and a corresponding right.”
Brown v. Dep't of Com., 359 P.3d 771 (Wash. 2015). · cites it 3× “” RCW 61.24.010(4). Ultimately, if the borrower breaches the obligations owed to the beneficiary, the trustee may foreclose the home in a trustee’s sale.”
Bain v. Metro. Mortg. Grp., Inc., 175 Wash. 2d 83 (Wash. 2012). · cites it 2× “153, § 1, codified in part as RCW 61.24.010(3) (“The trustee or successor trustee shall have *94 no fiduciary duty or fiduciary obligation to the grantor or other persons having an interest in the property subject to the deed of trust.”
D. Ryan & Rhonda Patrick, Apps v. Wells Fargo, 385 P.3d 165 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016). · cites it 4× “RCW 61.24.010 provides, (3) The trustee or successor trustee shall have no fiduciary duty or fiduciary obligation to the grantor or other persons having an interest in the property subject to the deed of trust.”
Albice v. Premier Mortg. Servs. of Washington, Inc., 276 P.3d 1277 (Wash. 2012). · cites it 2× “NOTES [1] Although four or five bidders showed up at the original sale date, only two bidders, one being Dickinson's agent, appeared at the February 16 sale.”
Show all 83 citing cases →
— Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010(1)(a) — 5 cases
Albice v. Premier Mortg. Servs. of Wash., 239 P.3d 1148 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).
Albice v. Premier Mortg. Servs. of Washington, Inc., 157 Wash. App. 912 (Wash. Ct. App. 2010).
In Re: John Robert Wilson (W.D. Wash. 2024).
Brian J. Winters & Rebecca L. Winters v. Wells Fargo Bank (Wash. Ct. App. 2019).
Jose Diaz, Appellant/cr-respondent v. North Star Tr., Llc., Respondent/cr-appellants (Wash. Ct. App. 2021).
— Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010(2) — 29 cases
Bavand v. OneWest Bank, FSB, 309 P.3d 636 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013). “¶18 Former RCW 61.24.010(2) (2009) states: The trustee may resign at its own election or be replaced by the beneficiary .”
Walker v. Quality Loan Serv. Corp., 176 Wash. App. 294 (Wash. Ct. App. 2013). “” 7 The “trustee” is “the person designated as the trustee in the deed of trust or appointed under RCW 61.24.010(2).” 8 Former RCW 61.24.010(2) (2008) states, The trustee may resign at its own election or be replaced by the beneficiary .”
Chettie Mcaffee v. Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc., 370 P.3d 25 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016). “RCW 61.24.010(2); Bavand, 176 Wn. App. at 487 .”
Butler v. One West Bank, FSB (In re Butler), 512 B.R. 643 (Bankr. W.D. Wash. 2014).
McDonald v. Onewest Bank, FSB, 929 F. Supp. 2d 1079 (W.D. Wash. 2013).
— Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010(3) — 16 cases
Marisa Bavand v. Onewest Bank Fsb, 385 P.3d 233 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016).
Bain v. Metro. Mortg. Grp., Inc., 175 Wash. 2d 83 (Wash. 2012). “153, § 1, codified in part as RCW 61.24.010(3) (“The trustee or successor trustee shall have *94 no fiduciary duty or fiduciary obligation to the grantor or other persons having an interest in the property subject to the deed of trust.”
Klem v. Washington Mut. Bank, 295 P.3d 1179 (Wash. 2013). “However, the judicially imposed “fiduciary” standard applies, at the latest, only in cases arising prior to the 2008 amendment of RCW 61.24.010. The 2008 amendment expressly rejected the “fiduciary” standard.”
D. Ryan & Rhonda Patrick, Apps v. Wells Fargo, 385 P.3d 165 (Wash. Ct. App. 2016). “RCW 61.24.010 provides, (3) The trustee or successor trustee shall have no fiduciary duty or fiduciary obligation to the grantor or other persons having an interest in the property subject to the deed of trust.”
Schroeder v. Excelsior Mgmt. Grp., LLC, 297 P.3d 677 (Wash. 2013).
— Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010(4) — 49 cases
Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 326 P.3d 768 (Wash. Ct. App. 2014). “185, § 9); see also RCW 61.24.010(2) (permitting the resignation of a trustee named in a deed of trust and the appointment of a successor trustee).”
Lyons v. U.S. Bank Nat'l Ass'n, 336 P.3d 1142 (Wash. 2014). “030(7) in relation to the beneficiary declaration and a breach of the duty of good faith under RCW 61.24.010(4). The trial court focused on the issue of whether Lyons could bring a claim for damages under the DTA in the absence of a trustee’s sale, and there was almost no…”
Trujillo v. Nw. Tr. Servs., Inc., 355 P.3d 1100 (Wash. 2015). “030(7), which requires a trustee to have proof that the beneficiary is the owner of the promissory note before issuing a notice of trustee sale, and RCW 61.24.010(4), which imposes a duty of good faith on the trustee.”
Brown v. Dep't of Com., 359 P.3d 771 (Wash. 2015). “” RCW 61.24.010(4). Ultimately, if the borrower breaches the obligations owed to the beneficiary, the trustee may foreclose the home in a trustee’s sale.”
Klem v. Washington Mut. Bank, 295 P.3d 1179 (Wash. 2013). “However, the judicially imposed “fiduciary” standard applies, at the latest, only in cases arising prior to the 2008 amendment of RCW 61.24.010. The 2008 amendment expressly rejected the “fiduciary” standard.”
— Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010(8) — 1 case
In re: Loretta J. Brown (9th Cir. BAP 2013).
— Wash. Rev. Code § 61.24.010(l)(b) — 1 case
Hallas v. Ameriquest Mortg. Co., 406 F. Supp. 2d 1176 (D. Or. 2005).
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