Tenants’ rights: While you are renting
Learn about Washington’s laws covering landlords and tenants including: duties and prohibited activities, how to avoid problems, rent increase rules, rent due dates and late fees, when and how a landlord can enter your rental unit, additional and unauthorized occupants, and illegal discrimination and retaliation.
Contents
1. Landlord and tenant duties
Under Washington’s Residential Landlord Tenant Act (RLTA), both landlords and tenants have duties that they must perform.
The RLTA covers most situations where a residential tenant regularly pays rent to a landlord for a place to live, whether they have a verbal or written rental agreement, and whether the time period is a fixed term (like 1 year) or is month to month.
Some living arrangements are not covered by the RLTA. But for most residential landlords and tenants, the laws below apply.
Under RCW 59.18.060, the landlord must:
- Maintain the unit so it does not violate state and local laws in ways that endanger your health and safety. RCW 59.18.060(1).
- Keep shared or common areas reasonably clean and safe. RCW 59.18.060(3).
- Fix damage to chimney, roof, floors, or other structural parts of the living space. RCW 59.18.060(2).
- Provide fixtures and appliances necessary to supply heat, electricity and hot and cold water. RCW 59.18.060(11).
- Maintain a reasonable program to control insect, rodent or other pest infestations, except when you caused the problem. RCW 59.18.060(4).
- Make repairs when something breaks in the unit, except if it is caused by wear and tear caused by ordinary use. RCW 59.18.060(5).
- Fix electrical, plumbing, heating systems if they break. RCW 59.18.060(8).
- Fix other appliances that come with the rental. RCW 59.18.060(8).
- Make repairs needed so the house is reasonably weather-tight. RCW 59.18.060(9).
- Give you a written notice about fire safety and protection information, including that the rental unit has a working smoke detector as required by RCW 43.44.110. RCW 59.18.060(12).
- Provide good locks for the unit and give you keys for them. RCW 59.18.060(6).
- Tell you the name and address of the landlord or their agent. RCW 59.18.060(14).
- Give you written information about the health hazards associated with indoor mold. RCW 59.18.060(13).
- If more than one family lives in a house or apartment building, the landlord must provide trash cans and arrange for trash and, in some cases, recyclable items pick up. If only one family lives in the house or building, the landlord does not have to provide trash pick-up. RCW 59.18.060(9).
Under RCW 59.18.130, tenants must:
- Pay rent and any utility bills agreed upon
- Follow city, county, and state regulations
- Keep the unit clean and sanitary
- Dispose of garbage properly
- Pay for control of any pest infestations that the tenant causes
- Properly use plumbing, electrical, and heating systems
- Restore the place to the same condition as when you moved in, except for normal wear resulting from ordinary use of the premises.
Tenants are prohibited from:
- Engaging in or allow any gang- or drug-related activity on the property
- Allowing damage to the property
- Allowing lots of garbage to build up in or around the unit
- Causing a nuisance or substantial interference with other tenants’ use of their property
- Allowing any of your guests or household members to do any of the prohibited actions.