Washington eviction law

Before an eviction for unpaid rent, serve a written notice to pay the rent or vacate within 14 days after service, using the statutory 14-day notice form. The notice may be served any time after rent is due.

RCW 59.12.030(3) RCW 59.18.057 RCW 59.18.650(2)(a)

• Serve it by personal delivery; or, if the tenant is absent, by leaving a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion at the unit and mailing a copy; or, if no such person is there, by posting a copy in a conspicuous place, delivering a copy to a resident if one can be found, and mailing a copy. RCW 59.12.040
• When a copy is served by mail, allow five more days before filing suit. The notice must state the date by which the tenant must pay or vacate. RCW 59.12.040
• The form lists rent, utilities and other recurring charges past due, with the total, and gives the tenant information on rental assistance, free legal help and mediation. RCW 59.18.057
• Accept a pledge of emergency rental assistance from a government or nonprofit source made before the notice expires if it covers the full rent owed. RCW 59.18.410(2)

For a substantial breach of a material lease term or a legal duty, other than one for money, serve a written notice that describes the breach and gives the tenant at least 10 days after service to fix it or the tenancy ends. For waste, nuisance, unlawful activity affecting the premises, or substantial or repeated unreasonable interference with the landlord or neighbors, a three-day notice to quit is enough.

RCW 59.18.650(2)(b), (c) RCW 59.12.030(4)

• Every notice under the just cause list must be served by one of the statutory methods and state the known facts supporting the cause specifically enough for the tenant to respond. RCW 59.18.650(6) RCW 59.12.040
• If the tenant's breach of a statutory duty threatens health or safety and can be fixed by repair, replacement or cleaning, the tenant gets 30 days after written notice, or less in an emergency; if the tenant does not act, you may do the work and bill the tenant. RCW 59.18.180(1)
• For drug-related activity, gang-related activity, or dangerous activity on the premises that led to the tenant's arrest, you may go directly to an eviction suit. RCW 59.18.180(3) to (5)
• Four or more cured violations in 12 months, each with a written warning, allow ending the tenancy at the end of the term on at least 60 days' notice. RCW 59.18.650(2)(n)

A landlord may end a tenancy only for a cause the just cause statute lists, after the notice that cause requires, except that certain fixed terms may end without cause when they expire. The eviction is an unlawful detainer suit in superior court, where the court sets a show cause hearing 7 to 30 days after the order is served; if you win, a writ of restitution issues and the sheriff removes the tenant.

RCW 59.18.650 RCW 59.18.370 RCW 59.18.410

• The sheriff serves the writ and may not carry it out for three days afterward. RCW 59.18.390(1)
• In a nonpayment case, the tenant can keep the tenancy by paying the rent, costs, lease late fees of up to $75 and any awarded attorneys' fees before judgment or within five court days after it, plus $50 for each reinstatement in the prior 12 months. RCW 59.18.410(2)
• The court may stay the writ for up to 90 days on a payment plan, unless the tenant received three or more valid pay or vacate notices in the prior 12 months. RCW 59.18.410(3)
• Subject to available funding, the court must appoint a lawyer for an indigent tenant. RCW 59.18.640
• The court may not award the landlord attorneys' fees on a default judgment, or when the rent awarded is no more than two months' rent or $1,200, whichever is greater. RCW 59.18.290(3)
• If the tenant cannot be personally served after three attempts over two days, the summons may be posted and mailed, but the court can then only restore possession, not award money. RCW 59.18.055

You may not remove or exclude a tenant from the unit except under a court order. You may not intentionally cause any of the tenant's utilities, including water, heat, electricity or gas, to be cut off, except for a reasonable interruption to make necessary repairs.

RCW 59.18.290(1) RCW 59.18.300

• A tenant locked out may recover possession or end the lease, and recover actual damages, costs and attorneys' fees. RCW 59.18.290(1)
• A utility shutoff can cost actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day without service, and attorneys' fees. RCW 59.18.300
• Distress for rent is abolished, and a lease clause creating a lien on the tenant's belongings is void. Keeping a tenant's property without specific written consent and refusing to return it on demand can cost its value, damages and, if intentional, up to $500 a day, capped at $5,000. RCW 59.18.230(4)
• You may not cut off a tenant's electricity or water for nonpayment on a day with a National Weather Service heat-related alert for the area, and on such a day must promptly try to reconnect service the tenant asks you to restore. RCW 59.18.060(11)(a), (b)

When a tenant who owes rent abandons the unit, you may take and store the tenant's property in a reasonably secure place. Make reasonable efforts to send notice, by first-class mail to the last known address and any other known address, naming you, where the property is stored and the date of sale or disposal, and telling the tenant of the right to get it back first.

RCW 59.18.310 RCW 59.18.312

• Return the property if the tenant asks in writing before the sale and pays the actual or reasonable moving and storage costs, whichever is less. RCW 59.18.310(2)
• You may sell or dispose of the property 45 days after the notice is mailed or delivered, or after seven days if its total value is $250 or less; personal papers, family pictures and keepsakes always get the 45 days. RCW 59.18.310(2)
• Hold any sale proceeds beyond what the tenant owes for one year for the tenant. RCW 59.18.310(2)
• After an eviction, you must store the property if the tenant asks in writing within three days after the writ is served; otherwise it may go on the nearest public property. Stored property worth more than $250 may be sold 30 days after notice of sale. RCW 59.18.312(1), (3)
• When a tenant who lived alone dies, a separate section governs the property. RCW 59.18.310(3) RCW 59.18.595

While the tenant is complying with chapter 59.18, you may not retaliate, or threaten to, because the tenant in good faith complained to a government agency about a code violation that may endanger health or safety, or asserted rights under the chapter. Retaliation includes eviction, a rent increase, reduced services and added obligations.

RCW 59.18.240 RCW 59.18.250

• Any of those actions within 90 days after the tenant's protected act, or after a resulting inspection or proceeding, is presumed retaliatory, though you can rebut it. RCW 59.18.250
• If the tenant was behind on rent or in breach when you gave a termination notice, the presumption runs the other way. RCW 59.18.250
• No presumption arises for a rent increase whose notice states reasonable grounds for it. RCW 59.18.250
• You also may not retaliate against a tenant who lets a code enforcement official inspect the unit. RCW 59.18.150(4)(b)
• The party who wins on a retaliation claim or defense recovers costs and attorneys' fees. RCW 59.18.250