Source: https://resources.hemlane.com/washington-tenant-landlord-law/
Timestamp: 2019-11-21 14:50:18
Document Index: 331412265

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 49', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59', '§ 59']

Washington Tenant-Landlord Law
14 March 2019 on Washington, tenants, landlords, laws, property management
In addition to federal fair housing laws, Washington prohibits discrimination on the basis of
(WA ST § 49.60.222)
Landlords are not required to charge a security deposit, but they can if they choose to. There is no statute for the maximum a landlord can charge for security deposits.
It is required that landlords keep their security deposits in a separate account, and cannot commingle them with any other account (RCW §§ 59.18.270).
All agreements between the landlord and the tenant should be written clearly in the lease agreement. If landlords wish to increase the rent on a unit, they must give the tenant at least a 30 day notice (RCW §§ 59.18.140).
There is no statute for the maximum a landlord can charge for late fees.
Tenants are allowed to repair on their own and deduct rent, but the repair must be done by a professional. In order to be able to deduct rent, the tenant must provide his/her landlord with the information and the estimate before the work begins. The cost of the repair will not exceed 2 month’s rent (RCW §§ 59.18.100).
In Washington, tenants must give a landlord with a month to month lease notification of early termination of lease 20 days before the end of that month (RCW §§ 59.18.200(1a-b)). The only reason which a tenant could terminate their lease any earlier is if he or she is a member of the armed forces and he or she is deployed.
Landlords to not need to give a tenant notice for a move-out inspection.
The notice given by landlords to tenants for nonpayment of rent must be 3 days before filing for eviction (RCW §§ 59.12.030(3)).
The notice given by landlords to tenants for lease violation must be 10 days before filing for eviction (RCW §§ 59.12.030(4)), but only 3 days if the action is illegal (RCW §§ 59.12.030(5)).
The required notice before a nonemergency entry is 2 days, or 48 hours (RCW §§ 59.18.150(6)). However, emergency entry is allowed without notice.
In the lease agreement, the landlord must lay out the specific duties of both the tenant and the landlord (see Washington Landlord Duties and Washington Tenant Duties). Landlords must provide a copy of the lease to every tenant that signs said lease, and they are allowed at least one free copy of the lease (RCW §§ 59.18.065).
Landlords must also disclose lead paint hazards within the unit due to the Lead Disclosure Rule. If a unit does have lead based paint, landlords must give notice to the tenant and also include an information packet (see Lead Disclosure Rule above).
In instances of domestic violence/abuse, tenants may terminate their lease early if they can provide the landlord with proof of incident within 90 days of the incident (RCW §§ 59.18.575(1b)). Tenants may still be responsible for rent for that month that they terminate early, depending on the lease agreement (RCW §§ 59.18.575(2)).