Washington Landlord Compliance
Everything you're responsible for as a landlord in Washington
Rent control, just-cause eviction, deposits, entry, repairs and recordkeeping, written for people who own or manage a few units, checked against the official sources, and kept current when the rules move.
Jurisdiction
key details
Rent cap · Detail
No increase in first 12 months; thereafter max per 12 months is lesser of 7% + CPI or 10% (Commerce: 9.683% for Jan 1–Dec 31, 2026). Exempt: units ≤12 yrs from first occupancy, subsidized/nonprofit, some owner-occupied. Expires 2040.
Deposit cap · Detail
State law regulates deposit handling but sets no maximum amount; Seattle municipal code limits deposits plus nonrefundable fees to one month's rent.
Rent increase notice · Detail
Minimum 90 days' prior written notice of any rent increase (30 days for income-based subsidized tenancies); transitional 60-day rule for leases predating May 7, 2025. Amended by 2025 c 209 (HB 1217).
City rules · Detail
Cities and counties may not regulate the amount of rent (RCW 35.21.830; 36.01.160), but local just-cause/tenant-protection ordinances exist (Seattle, Tacoma, Burien, Federal Way, Auburn).
Just cause · Detail
Landlord may not evict, refuse to continue, or end a periodic tenancy except for enumerated causes. Exception: initial 6–12-month lease may be ended at term end without cause on 60 days' notice; certain 12-month+ fixed terms may expire.
Return deadline · Detail
Full and specific statement plus any refund within 30 days after termination of the rental agreement and vacation of the premises, or within 30 days after landlord learns of abandonment. Extended from 21 days by 2023 c 331.
Nonpayment notice · Detail
Written notice requiring payment or surrender of the premises; tenant has 14 days after service to pay before an unlawful detainer action may proceed.
What are you trying to do?
Start from the task. Each route gathers the guides, checklists and forms that apply to it in Washington.
Essential local guides
If you're new to owning here, these five cover most of what will come up in your first year.
View All GuidesRenting in an HOA or Condo in Seattle: What Move-In Rules Can the Association Require?
A landlord lines up a tenant, signs the lease, and assumes move-in day is just a matter of handing over keys. Then the building's managing agent asks for an elevator reservation the landlord didn't know existed, a move-in deposit that isn't in the lease, and proof the tenant's dog was cleared with the office. None of that is set by state law. It's set building by building, and getting it wrong costs a delayed move-in, not a legal violation.
Guide
When a Tenant Breaks HOA or Condo Rules in Seattle, Is the Landlord Responsible?
A tenant leaves a bike blocking the hallway for the third time, and the violation letter that follows is addressed to the owner, not the renter. That surprises a lot of landlords who assumed the association would deal with the tenant directly. It generally won't, and understanding why changes how a lease should be written before the first violation ever happens.
Guide
Can a Seattle HOA or Condo Association Approve or Reject Your Tenant?
A landlord who previously owned in a New York co-op assumes the Seattle condo board will run its own tenant interview and approval process the same way. It generally won't. Washington condo and HOA boards don't hold the statutory power to approve or reject a tenant the way a co-op board does, so the actual screening decision, and the legal limits on it, sit almost entirely with the landlord, not the association.
Guide
Can a Seattle HOA or Condo Association Restrict Long-Term Rentals?
An owner buys into a Seattle condo building planning to rent it out within a year, and only later learns the declaration already caps rentals at a fixed number of units, with a waiting list they're now behind on. A block away, a building with no cap at all would need a vote from 90 percent of every owner to add one, a bar so high it rarely happens after the fact. Whether a unit can be rented in Seattle comes down almost entirely to what a specific building's declaration already says, and how hard that declaration is to change.
Guide
Seattle Pet Rent and Junk Fee Ban 2027: Recurring Pet Rent and Several Other Fees End July 1, 2027
A Seattle landlord who built pet rent, a package-room fee, and a payment-processing surcharge into the standard lease now has to unwind all 3. Seattle City Council Bill 121254, passed 8-0 and signed into law by Mayor Katie Wilson, bans a specific list of recurring and junk fees starting July 1, 2027, and requires an all-in cost disclosure wherever a unit is advertised.
Guide
Recent changes
Only substantive changes, not copy edits.
7 May 2025
Statewide rent-increase limits take effect
HB 1217 limits annual rent increases for covered residential and manufactured-home tenancies and adds notice and enforcement rules.
Full Washington collection
Filter by what you're doing or by the kind of resource you need.
| Resource | Type | Task | Reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
Washington Rent Increase Cap 2027: Maximum Increase in Any 12-Month Period Is 10% A Washington landlord expecting the state's CPI-linked rent cap formula to produce something close to last year's figure got a different answer this time. The Department of Commerce announced on July 15, 2026 that the maximum allowable rent increase for any 12-month period in calendar year 2027 is 10%, the statutory ceiling itself, because the underlying formula actually calculated higher. | Guides | Raise the rent | Oct 5, 2026 |
Tacoma Landlord Fairness Code 2026: One 180-Day Rent Increase Notice Replaces the Two-Notice System A Tacoma landlord who built a compliance calendar around the original Landlord Fairness Code Initiative, 2 separate rent-increase notices, a flat $75 late-fee ceiling, a winter eviction ban with no small-landlord carve-out, has to rebuild that calendar for 2026. Ordinance 29086 replaces the dual-notice system with a single 180-day notice, caps late fees as a percentage of rent instead of a flat dollar amount, and adds exemptions the original 2023 initiative didn't include. | Guides | Raise the rent | Oct 5, 2026 |
Washington Rent Increase Cap 2026: Maximum Increase in Any 12-Month Period Is 9.683% A Washington landlord who assumed 2026's rent cap would hit the same 10% ceiling 2025 did got a different number this time. The Department of Commerce announced on July 18, 2025 that the maximum allowable rent increase for any 12-month period in calendar year 2026 is 9.683%, the formula's actual calculated result, which landed just under the statutory 10% maximum rather than hitting it. | Guides | Raise the rent | Oct 5, 2026 |
Washington Statewide Rent Cap: 7% Plus CPI, Capped at 10%, After a Tenant's First Year A Washington landlord who spent years setting rent increases purely by market demand now has a statutory ceiling to work within, and a real penalty for ignoring it. House Bill 1217 created the state's first general rent-increase cap, 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is less, along with a defined list of exempt properties and civil penalties reaching $7,500 per violation. | Guides | Raise the rent | Oct 5, 2026 |
Washington Rent Increase Notice 2025: Landlords Must Give 90 Days' Written Notice Using the State Form A Washington landlord who sent a rent-increase letter 45 days before the effective date, in whatever format the property management software happened to generate, is no longer in compliance just because the increase itself stayed under the statutory cap. House Bill 1217 requires at least 90 days' written notice before any rent increase, delivered using substantially the form the law itself provides, with a longer local notice period controlling wherever a city requires more. | Guides | Raise the rent | Oct 5, 2026 |
Page 1 of 1 · 5 resources
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What you read about
Rent increase dates and notice
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Obligation tracking with reminders
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Move-in and move-out photos
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Records kept per unit, per tenancy
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Repair requests and responses
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Maintenance log with timestamps
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Everything a hearing could ask for
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