Landlord Tenant Laws in Washington State: A Plain English Guide
Washington’s rental rules live mostly in RCW 59.18, and they changed a lot between 2023 and 2026. This guide answers the questions owners actually ask, in order, with the statute number attached to every answer.
This page is general information, not legal advice. We are property managers, not attorneys. Washington rental law changes often, and the answer for your property can depend on facts this page does not know. Use this as a starting point, then confirm anything that matters with a Washington attorney.
Reviewed: September 2026.
How to use this guide
Most of Washington’s residential rental rules sit in one chapter of state law, RCW 59.18. Cities can add rules on top. They cannot take state protections away.
That layering is where owners get into trouble. A landlord in unincorporated Pierce County follows one set of rules. A landlord four miles away inside Tacoma city limits follows the same state rules plus two local codes. If your property is in Tacoma, read this page first and then read the Tacoma rental housing code page.
Every section below is written as the question people search, with the answer first.
Can I raise the rent, and by how much?
Yes, within a cap. Washington adopted rent stabilization through HB 1217, now codified at RCW 59.18.700 to RCW 59.18.730.
The cap is 7 percent plus CPI, or 10 percent, whichever is less. The Department of Commerce publishes the figure each year.
No increase at all during the first 12 months of a tenancy.
Manufactured and mobile home lots have their own rule: 5 percent flat, once per 12 months, under RCW 59.20.390.
The cap is set by the year the increase takes effect, not the year you write the notice. That single detail changes the math on almost every increase noticed in the second half of a year.
Three more rules that catch people:
2026 cap: 9.683 percent
You cannot charge more than a 5 percent difference in rent based on lease type, under RCW 59.18.700(4).
2027 cap: 10.0 percent
There is an exemption list in RCW 59.18.710, and the exemption has to be claimed in your written notice. Pet rent counts as a recurring charge, so it sits inside the cap. The full breakdown, including the exemption list, the notice form and a worked calendar, is on our Washington rent increase law page.
How much notice do I have to give?
| What you are doing | Notice required | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Raising the rent | 90 days written | RCW 59.18.140 |
| Raising the rent, income-based subsidized tenancy | 30 days written | RCW 59.18.140 |
| Ending a tenancy for nonpayment of rent | 14 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
| Ending a tenancy for a lease violation | 10 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
| Ending a tenancy for waste or nuisance | 3 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
| Owner or family move-in | 90 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
| Sale of a single family residence | 90 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
| Other good cause or a legitimate economic or business reason | 60 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
| Four or more lease violations in 12 months | 60 days | RCW 59.18.650 |
Local rules stack on top. Inside Tacoma, a rent increase needs 180 days of written notice on a City form under TMC 1.95.060, plus two more notices under TMC 1.100.050. The state’s 90 days is the floor, not the answer.
It depends entirely on what you are noticing. Here are the statewide periods.
Do I need a reason to end a tenancy?
Yes. Washington is a just cause state under RCW 59.18.650. “The lease ended” is not, by itself, a reason.
You need one of the causes listed in the statute, and each cause carries its own notice period, shown in the table above. Getting the cause and the period matched correctly is most of the work. A 14 day notice used for a lease violation, or a 10 day notice used for nonpayment, is a defective notice, and a defective notice usually means starting over.
The full list, plus how service works and what happens in court, is on our page about eviction notices and unlawful detainer.
How do security deposits work?
Washington has no statewide cap on the size of a security deposit. It has strict rules on everything else.
You must have a signed move-in checklist first. RCW 59.18.260 requires a written checklist of the unit’s condition, signed by both parties, before you may collect any deposit at all.
Return deadline is 30 days. RCW 59.18.280 gives you 30 days to return the deposit with a full itemized statement, including estimates or paid invoices. This changed from 21 days in 2023. The Attorney General’s own consumer page is still stale on this point, so do not be surprised when a tenant quotes 21 days at you.
Deposits go in a trust account. RCW 59.18.270 requires a trust account at a Washington financial institution or a licensed escrow agent, and written notice to the tenant of where the money is held.
Cities can be stricter. Inside Tacoma, TMC 1.100.040 caps total move-in cost at one month’s rent, and that total includes the deposit, non-refundable fees and screening fees together. Full detail is on our Washington security deposit law page.
How fast do I have to make repairs?
| Problem | Deadline after written notice |
|---|---|
| No hot or cold water, no heat, no electricity, or an imminently hazardous defect | 24 hours |
| Refrigerator, range and oven, or a major plumbing fixture supplied by the landlord | 72 hours |
| Everything else | 10 days |
Once a tenant gives you written notice of a defect, RCW 59.18.070 puts you on a clock. There are three speeds.
These are short. Twenty four hours includes weekends. If you self-manage and you travel, or you do not have a vendor who answers the phone at 9pm on a Saturday, this is the rule most likely to catch you out.
There is a Tacoma consequence too. Rent may not be raised while a unit has habitability violations, and that is an affirmative defense in an eviction case. An open repair ticket in Tacoma is a legal problem, not just a maintenance problem.
When can I enter the unit?
Placeholder copy to publish only after confirmation: Washington law sets rules for when and how a landlord may enter an occupied unit, including advance notice. Confirm the current requirement with a Washington attorney before entering, and put your entry policy in the lease in writing.
What fees can I charge?
This is where the most expensive small mistakes happen.
Non-refundable fees
Under RCW 59.18.285, a non-refundable fee may not be called a deposit, and it has to be in a written rental agreement. Calling a cleaning fee a “cleaning deposit” turns it into a deposit, which means it is refundable and subject to the deposit rules.
Holding deposits
RCW 59.18.253 caps a holding deposit at 25 percent of the first month’s rent. Waiting list fees are unlawful.
Installment rights
RCW 59.18.610 is widely ignored and easy to comply with. On a tenant’s written request, you must allow the deposit, non-refundable fees and last month’s rent to be paid in installments: 3 equal monthly installments for leases of 3 months or longer, 2 for shorter leases. You may not charge a fee or interest for the tenant choosing installments. You are not required to offer installments if the combined deposits and non-refundable fees are 25 percent or less of the first month’s rent and you are not requiring last month’s rent.
Pet fees
There is no statewide cap on pet deposits or pet rent. SB 6064 in 2024 died in committee. But pet rent is a recurring charge, so it is inside the HB 1217 rent cap. And assistance animals are not pets, which is a fair housing issue, not a pet policy issue.
Late fees
Statewide, this page states no late fee cap because none was verified for this guide. Inside Tacoma, TMC 1.95.065 allows 1.5 percent of the unpaid monthly rent and TMC 1.100 caps late fees at $10 per month, privately enforceable. The safe Tacoma number is $10.
What are the rules for screening applicants?
RCW 59.18.257 requires written disclosure before you collect a screening fee. You have to tell the applicant what will be checked, what your denial criteria are, which reporting agency you use, and how they can dispute what the agency reports.
If you screen applicants yourself instead of using a service, you may only charge your actual cost, and no more than what a customary local screening service would charge.
Then fair housing rules apply on top, and in Tacoma, TMC 1.95.035.C caps your income-to-rent ratio at 3 times rent below HUD Fair Market Rent and 2.5 times rent at or above Fair Market Rent.
What are the fair housing rules?
Washington protects more classes than federal law does. RCW 49.60.222 adds creed, marital status, sexual orientation including gender expression and gender identity, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, and use of a trained dog guide or service animal, on top of the federal classes.
Separately, RCW 59.18.255 makes source of income protected. Section 8 is squarely included. Two details do most of the damage when they are missed:
Any voucher amount must be subtracted from the rent before you apply an income-to-rent ratio.
The penalty runs up to 4.5 times the monthly rent, plus fees.
Full detail, including assistance animals and lawful advertising, is on our Washington fair housing rules page.
How does eviction work?
Eviction in Washington runs through a court case called an unlawful detainer. It is a lawsuit, and the tenant is a party to it with the right to defend.
The short version: you need a just cause under RCW 59.18.650, you serve the correct notice for that cause, and if the tenant does not comply you file in court. Two things are worth knowing before you start.
Indigent tenants have a statewide right to counsel in unlawful detainer cases under RCW 59.18.640, at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level. Your tenant will very likely have a lawyer.
The Eviction Resolution Pilot Program expired on July 1, 2023. If a source tells you to go through that program first, that source is out of date.
Our page on eviction notices and unlawful detainer covers service, including the HB 2664 change effective June 11, 2026 that moved the mailed copy on substitute service from certified mail to regular mail.
If your property is in Pierce County
State law is the floor. Local rules sit on top, and they vary a lot inside a few miles.
01
Tacoma
Two codes at once, TMC 1.95 and TMC 1.100, with a business license precondition on rent increases and notices to vacate. Start with the Tacoma rental housing code page and the Tacoma landlord business license page.
Lakewood
02
The strictest jurisdiction in the county, with mandatory registration and a five year inspection cycle. See the Lakewood Rental Housing Safety Program page.
Unincorporated Pierce County
03
No general business license and no rental registration found in our research, though a state Business License with a UBI number is still required.
Puyallup and University Place
04
General business license only.
If you read that list and thought “I am probably out of compliance on two of these,” you are in good company. Between HB 1217, the 2023 deposit change, HB 2664 and Tacoma’s Ordinance 29086, the rules moved four separate times in three years.
We manage rentals across Tacoma and Pierce County and we track these changes because we have to. If you want a straight answer about your own property, book a property management consult or call 253.222.3387.
Washington landlord tenant law questions
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Ninety days written notice statewide under RCW 59.18.140, or 30 days for income-based subsidized tenancies. The notice has to substantially follow the form in RCW 59.18.720. Cities can require more. Inside Tacoma, TMC 1.95.060 requires 180 days on a City form, and TMC 1.100.050 requires two notices on its own schedule.
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Thirty days, under RCW 59.18.280, with a full itemized statement and either estimates or paid invoices. This changed from 21 days in 2023, and some official consumer pages still show the old number. You also must have a written move-in condition checklist signed by both parties before you collect a deposit at all, under RCW 59.18.260.
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No. RCW 59.18.255 protects source of income, and Section 8 is squarely included. You also have to subtract the voucher amount from the rent before applying any income-to-rent ratio. The penalty for violating this runs up to 4.5 times the monthly rent plus fees, so this is one of the more expensive mistakes available.
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Yes. RCW 59.18.650 is a just cause statute. Each cause carries its own notice period: 14 days for nonpayment, 10 days for a lease violation, 3 days for waste or nuisance, 90 days for owner or family move-in or for the sale of a single family residence, and 60 days for other good cause or a legitimate economic or business reason.
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RCW 59.18.070 sets three deadlines that start when you get written notice. Twenty four hours for no hot or cold water, no heat, no electricity or an imminently hazardous defect. Seventy two hours for a refrigerator, range and oven, or a major plumbing fixture. Ten days for everything else.
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Not statewide. Washington sets no dollar or multiple-of-rent cap on the deposit itself. Cities can. Inside Tacoma, TMC 1.100.040 caps the total move-in cost, meaning deposit plus non-refundable fees plus screening fees, at the first month’s rent, and caps a pet damage deposit at 25 percent of one month’s rent.
Have a question about your own property?
This page is a map, not a substitute for advice on your specific situation. If you want to talk through how any of it applies to your rental, we are happy to help, whether or not you ever hire us.
We are in the office Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm, Saturday and Sunday by appointment, and we reply within 24 hours.
Red Roof Rentals & Real Estate, 14208 Pacific Ave., Unit #2, Tacoma, WA 98444. 253.222.3387.
This page is general information, not legal advice, and Washington rental law changes. Confirm anything that matters with a Washington attorney.