Outline of the eviction process in Washington

Washington evictions are “unlawful detainer” actions under chapter 59.12 RCW, with the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (chapter 59.18 RCW) controlling most of the details for housing. Cases are heard in the superior court of the county where the property is (RCW 59.12.050). Distinctive features: a statewide just-cause law, a 14-day pay-or-vacate notice and a summons whose forms are set by statute, appointed lawyers for low-income tenants, and a right to reinstate the tenancy after judgment.

Two recent changes matter most. In 2025 the legislature capped rent increases and lengthened the rent-increase notice to 90 days (HB 1217). And the rule for mailing pre-suit notices changed twice, in 2025 and again in 2026 (see section 2).

1. Grounds: just cause statewide

A landlord may not evict, refuse to continue a tenancy, or end a periodic tenancy except for a cause listed in RCW 59.18.650(2). The main causes and minimum notices:

• Nonpayment of rent: 14-day notice (RCW 59.12.030(3)).
• Substantial breach of a material lease term: at least 10 days to comply or vacate.
• Waste, nuisance or unlawful activity: at least 3 days, no cure.
• Owner or immediate family move-in in good faith, or sale of a single-family residence: at least 90 days.
• Demolition, substantial rehabilitation or change of use: generally at least 120 days (RCW 59.18.200(2)(c)); cities with their own relocation assistance programs are excepted and follow local rules.
• Owner shares the dwelling, kitchen or bathroom with the tenant, or sexual harassment by the tenant: at least 20 days.
• Premises condemned as uninhabitable, refusal to sign a reasonable new agreement, or material misrepresentation on the application: generally at least 30 days.
• Four or more violations in 12 months, each with a written warning notice, sex offender registration, or other good cause that is a legitimate economic or business reason: at least 60 days.

Fixed-term leases. You may end a tenancy without cause at the end of the term only with at least 60 days’ written notice and only if (a) the initial agreement was for six to 12 months and the notice is given before that initial period ends, or (b) the lease does not roll over to month-to-month, the initial agreement was for 12 months or more (or the parties have continuously signed successive agreements of six months or more since the start), and the tenancy has never been month-to-month at any point (RCW 59.18.650(1)(b), (c)). The owner move-in, sale and demolition causes cannot cut a fixed term short unless the tenant agrees in writing and gets at least 60 days to vacate (RCW 59.18.650(5)). Once a tenancy is month-to-month, only the listed causes work; the 20-day notice in RCW 59.18.200 is the tenant’s notice, not a landlord’s.

Penalty. Wrongful eviction costs the greater of the tenant’s economic and noneconomic damages or three times the monthly rent, plus attorney’s fees and costs (RCW 59.18.650(4)).

Rent increases. Since May 7, 2025, rent may not be raised during the first 12 months of a tenancy, and afterward not by more than 7 percent plus the consumer price index, or 10 percent, whichever is less, in any 12-month period (RCW 59.18.700). The Department of Commerce publishes each year’s figure (9.683 percent for 2026 and 10 percent for 2027). Exemptions include units whose first certificate of occupancy is 12 years old or less, regulated affordable housing and some owner-occupied arrangements (RCW 59.18.710). Increases need at least 90 days’ written notice, 30 days in subsidized tenancies (RCW 59.18.140). The cap expires July 1, 2040.

2. Notices, service and counting days

• 14-day notice to pay or vacate (RCW 59.18.057). It must be substantially in the statutory form, itemizing monthly rent, utilities and other recurring or periodic charges identified in the lease, and demanding the total within 14 days after service. Leave out late fees, damages and legal costs. The Attorney General’s website has the form and translations. Payments must be applied to rent first (RCW 59.18.283).
• 10-day notice to comply or vacate (RCW 59.12.030(4)); the tenant may cure within the 10 days.
• 3-day notice to quit for waste, nuisance or unlawful activity (RCW 59.12.030(5)).
• Federally backed or subsidized properties may also be subject to the federal CARES Act 30-day notice; confirm before relying on a shorter one.

Content. A just-cause notice must identify the supporting facts and circumstances with enough specificity for the tenant to respond and prepare a defense (RCW 59.18.650(6)). A termination notice must state the date by which the tenant must vacate or, if applicable, comply (RCW 59.12.040).

Service (RCW 59.12.040). (1) Deliver a copy personally to the tenant; or (2) if the tenant is absent, leave a copy with a person of suitable age and discretion at the premises and mail a copy to the tenant’s residence; or (3) if no such person can be found, post a copy conspicuously on the premises, deliver a copy to anyone residing there if one can be found, and mail a copy to the tenant at the premises. Posting alone is never enough. Since June 11, 2026 the mailed copy goes by ordinary mail, deposited within Washington state; from July 27, 2025 until then certified mail was required.

Counting days. Periods run from service. When a copy is mailed, service is complete on mailing, but five additional days must be allowed before you file (RCW 59.12.040). A posted-and-mailed 14-day notice means 19 days. Keep a declaration of service.

3. Filing

File in the superior court of the county where the property is. The complaint must set out the facts, describe the premises and, for nonpayment, state the rent due (RCW 59.12.070). Fees and local procedures vary by county. This guide did not verify whether an entity landlord may appear without a lawyer; ask the court or counsel first.

The summons must be substantially in the RCW 59.18.365 form. It gives the tenant until 5:00 p.m. on the return date to respond in writing. The return date must be not less than seven nor more than 30 days from service (RCW 59.12.070).

4. Service and the show cause hearing

If you cannot personally serve the summons after due diligence, meaning at least three attempts over not less than two days at different times of day, you may post the summons and complaint conspicuously at the premises and send copies by both regular and certified mail, each not less than nine days before the return date. A case served that way is limited to possession, with no money judgment until the tenant is properly served (RCW 59.18.055).

To obtain possession you apply for an order to show cause, with a hearing not less than seven nor more than 30 days from service of the order (RCW 59.18.370). The tenant may answer orally or in writing and raise any legal or equitable defense or set-off. If your right to possession appears, the court orders a writ of restitution and sends remaining issues to trial (RCW 59.18.380).

Appointed counsel. Subject to available state funding, the court must appoint an attorney for an indigent tenant: one receiving listed public assistance or with after-tax income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level (RCW 59.18.640).

5. Judgment, pay-and-stay and appeal

A judgment for the landlord awards restitution, damages, rent found due and late fees capped at $75 in total; the court may award costs and reasonable attorney’s fees (RCW 59.18.410). Fees may not be awarded if the tenant defaulted, or if the rent awarded is no more than two months’ rent or $1,200, whichever is greater (RCW 59.18.290(3)).

• Reinstatement. In a nonpayment case the tenant may restore the tenancy by paying the rent due, court costs, late fees up to $75 and any attorney’s fees awarded, before judgment or within five court days after it. A tenant with a written pledge of rental assistance from a government or nonprofit agency has until the eviction date, and you must accept such a pledge. A tenant reinstated after judgment in the prior 12 months pays an extra $50 for each time. The sheriff may serve the writ in that time but may not execute it until the five court days pass.
• Payment plan. For good cause the court may stay the writ and order repayment, for no more than 90 days from the order. A tenant who received three or more pay-or-vacate notices in the 12 months before the current notice cannot use this relief, unless the court finds any of those notices invalid (RCW 59.18.410(3)).

Appeal. Review is as in other civil actions; a notice of appeal is generally due within 30 days after entry of the decision (RAP 5.2(a)). An appeal does not stop the eviction: a tenant who wants a stay must file a bond, approved by the judge, conditioned on paying all rents and damages accruing during the appeal (RCW 59.12.200).

6. The writ, the lockout and tenant property

The county sheriff executes the writ of restitution, serving a copy on the tenant and waiting three days before executing it (RCW 59.18.390). Expect to supply the labor: the King County Sheriff, for example, requires the landlord to provide enough staff and supplies to remove all property promptly.

Property (RCW 59.18.312). On execution the landlord takes possession of what is left. You must store it if the tenant serves a written request within three days after service of the writ. Without a request you may store it unless the tenant objects. If the tenant objects, or you choose not to store because no request was made, the property goes to the nearest public property and you may not keep it. Stored property is returned when the tenant pays the actual or reasonable drayage and storage costs, whichever is less. Property worth more than $250 in total may be sold or disposed of 30 days after written notice; property worth $250 or less, seven days after notice, except personal papers, family pictures and keepsakes.

Self-help is unlawful. A landlord may not remove or exclude a tenant without a court order; the tenant can recover possession or terminate, plus damages and attorney’s fees (RCW 59.18.290). Intentionally cutting utilities costs actual damages plus up to $100 for each day without service (RCW 59.18.300).

7. Seattle and Tacoma

• Seattle. The Just Cause Eviction Ordinance (SMC 22.205) covers month-to-month tenants, verbal agreements and expiring term leases. The city requires one of its listed just causes, requires 90 days’ notice for owner move-in or sale, and since July 2021 requires an offer of renewal on an expiring term lease, made 60 to 90 days before it ends, unless there is just cause. City defenses include a winter defense from December 1 to March 1 for households at or below 80 percent of area median income (landlords with an interest in fewer than four properties are exempt), a school-year defense (September to June) for households with children in school and for school employees, and defenses for non-compliance such as an unregistered rental.
• Tacoma. The Landlord Fairness Code (TMC 1.100) was amended by Amended Substitute Ordinance 29086, effective January 1, 2026. The amended code includes a cold-weather eviction prohibition from November 15 to March 15 (owners of four or fewer Tacoma rental units are exempt, TMC 1.100.063), a school-year defense for children, their custodians and educators (TMC 1.100.060), and a relocation-assistance duty when rent rises 5 percent or more in 12 months (TMC 1.100.050). Confirm current notice periods and any late-fee limits with the city before relying on them.

Recent law changes landlords should know

• Ordinary mail restored (June 11, 2026). HB 2664, Laws of 2026, ch. 144, removed certified mail from RCW 59.12.040. The five additional days remain.
• Certified mail and five extra days (July 27, 2025). HB 1003, Laws of 2025, ch. 44, required certified mail, raised the added time for mailed notices from one day to five, and required termination notices to state the vacate-or-comply date.
• Rent cap (May 7, 2025). HB 1217, Laws of 2025, ch. 209: RCW 59.18.700, 59.18.710 and the 90-day notice in 59.18.140.

What actually goes wrong

• Posting a notice and nothing else, or filing on day 15 after a mailed 14-day notice. Posting requires a mailed copy, and mailing adds five days.
• A home-made pay-or-vacate notice, or one loaded with late fees, damages or legal costs.
• A 20-day no-cause notice, or a non-renewal that fits neither fixed-term exception.
• Raising rent in the first 12 months, above the cap, or on less than 90 days’ notice, then suing for the increase.
• Treating the judgment as the end. The tenant has five court days to reinstate and may seek a plan of up to 90 days.

When to bring in an attorney

Low-income tenants are often represented by an appointed lawyer, and notice defects are the first thing that lawyer checks. Use counsel for anything in Seattle or Tacoma, for terminations other than simple nonpayment, for subsidized housing, and whenever the owner is an entity. The Washington attorneys listed below represent landlords in unlawful detainer cases in the superior courts.

Sources

• RCW 59.12.030, 59.12.040, 59.12.050, 59.12.070, 59.12.200.
• RCW 59.18.055, 59.18.057, 59.18.140, 59.18.200, 59.18.283, 59.18.290, 59.18.300, 59.18.312, 59.18.365, 59.18.370, 59.18.380, 59.18.390, 59.18.410, 59.18.640, 59.18.650, 59.18.700, 59.18.710.
• Laws of 2025, ch. 44 (HB 1003) and ch. 209 (HB 1217); Laws of 2026, ch. 144 (HB 2664); RAP 5.2(a).
• Washington Attorney General, Landlord-Tenant page; Department of Commerce, HB 1217 Landlord Resource Center; King County Sheriff, Form D-140.
• City of Seattle, Just Cause Eviction Ordinance page (SMC 22.205) and Renting in Seattle, Defenses to Eviction; City of Tacoma, Renting in Tacoma page and TMC 1.100 as amended by Ordinance 29086.

This guide is general information about Washington procedure and is not legal advice. Local ordinances and county court rules add to the state rules described here. Confirm the current text before relying on any deadline.