Washington Residential Lease Agreement
Washington overhauled its landlord–tenant rules in 2025 with HB 1217, a statewide rent stabilization law that caps annual increases at the lesser of 7% plus CPI or 10% (whichever is less), prohibits any increase in the first 12 months, and requires 90 days of written notice before any increase takes effect. Sitting on top of that — and predating it by decades — is a thicket of long-standing requirements: the deposit trust-account obligation, the move-in checklist that forfeits the entire deposit if missed, the mandatory 5-day rent grace before late fees can be charged, and the statewide just-cause eviction framework under HB 1236 (2021). BuildMyLease's Washington lease bakes all of that in alongside the verbatim mold and fire-protection disclosures, the owner-identification language, and informational callouts for the major-city tenant-protection layers in Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and Bellingham.
$29.00 per generated document.
What a Washington lease must include
Standard lease elements
- Parties and the Washington county + street address of the rental.
- Lease term — fixed end date or a periodic (month-to-month) tenancy.
- Monthly rent amount, due date, and accepted payment methods.
- Security deposit amount, with the mandatory trust-account institution name + address fields.
- Utilities — which the landlord covers and which the tenant pays.
- Occupancy rules, pets, smoking, and entry procedures.
- Default, eviction-notice tiers, and just-cause-compliant termination language.
- 2025 HB 1217 rent-cap + 90-day-notice block.
- Verbatim mold, fire-protection, and owner-identification disclosures.
- Signatures of all parties.
Washington-required disclosures
- Federal lead-paint disclosure and EPA pamphlet for any unit built before 1978. (42 U.S.C. § 4852d; 24 C.F.R. Part 35)
- Mold-hazard disclosure — landlord must provide Washington Department of Health-approved information on indoor mold health hazards at lease signing. (RCW 59.18.060(13))
- Fire-protection and safety disclosure — smoking policy, emergency notification plan, and evacuation plan, disclosed at lease signing. (RCW 59.18.060(12)(a))
- Owner / agent identification — name and address of the landlord and any agent authorized to receive notice and process must appear in the lease or be posted at the rental. (RCW 59.18.060(15))
- Mandatory move-in checklist — written checklist describing the condition + cleanliness of the premises and any furnishings, signed by both parties before any portion of the deposit is collected. Failure forfeits the entire deposit. (RCW 59.18.260)
- Trust-account notice — security deposit must be held in a trust account at a Washington financial institution; the institution name + address must appear in the lease body. (RCW 59.18.270)
- Tenant screening disclosure — before collecting any screening fee, the landlord must give written notice of the screening criteria, reasons for rejection, CRA contact, and reusable-screening-report acceptance. (RCW 59.18.257)
Washington-specific workflow
- 2025 HB 1217 rent cap: annual increases limited to the lesser of 7% plus prior-12-month CPI, or 10% absolute. Once per 12-month period. No increase during the first 12 months. RCW 59.18.140.
- 90-day written notice required before any rent increase takes effect. RCW 59.18.140 (as amended).
- Mandatory 5-day rent grace before any late fee can be charged. Late fees may be calculated retroactively from day 2 once they begin to accrue. RCW 59.18.170.
- Deposit must be held in a trust account at a Washington financial institution; landlord retains any interest unless the lease provides otherwise. RCW 59.18.270.
- Within 30 days of move-out, landlord must provide an itemized statement and any refund. Deductions cannot be taken for normal wear and tear. RCW 59.18.280 (as amended).
- Tenant may request in writing to pay the deposit + nonrefundable fees + last month's rent in installments, when total ≤ 25% of first month's rent. RCW 59.18.610.
- Holding deposit (deposit to reserve the unit) capped at 25% of first month's rent; only chargeable after the rental has been offered. RCW 59.18.253.
- Eviction notice tiers: 14-day pay-or-quit / 10-day cure / 3-day unconditional. RCW 59.12.030.
- Statewide just-cause eviction under HB 1236 (2021): landlord must have statutory cause to terminate or decline to renew. RCW 59.18.650.
- Self-help eviction prohibited; tenant has cause of action for unlawful entry. RCW 59.18.290.
- Tenant Right to Counsel — Washington was first state to guarantee free legal representation to qualifying low-income tenants in eviction proceedings. RCW 59.46.
How a Washington lease is structured
- The document opens with parties, the Washington county, and the rental-property address.
- The property-location subphase surfaces the 2025 HB 1217 rent-cap block + the 90-day notice rule + the Washington Law Against Discrimination + source-of-income protection + a single combined major-city overlay informational callout for Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane, and Bellingham.
- The term section identifies the arrangement as fixed-term with an end date or as a periodic tenancy with the 20-day tenant-side termination floor under RCW 59.18.200.
- The rent section sets the monthly amount, due date, accepted payment methods, and surfaces the mandatory 5-day grace before late fees may be charged.
- The security-deposit section captures the deposit amount, the trust-account institution name + address, and surfaces the 30-day itemized return, the move-in checklist forfeiture exposure, the deposit-installment-payment right, and the holding-deposit cap.
- A dedicated Washington-disclosures subphase informs the user that the lease will automatically include the mandatory mold, fire-protection, owner-identification, and smoke-alarm disclosures.
- The document closes with the statewide just-cause eviction framework, the eviction notice tiers, the right-to-counsel informational, and the non-discrimination clause covering RCW 49.60.222 + the RCW 59.18.255 source-of-income protection — followed by signatures.
BuildMyLease assembles all of this for you in a guided interview.
Free Washington lease template vs BuildMyLease
Free Washington lease templates exist, but most pre-date the 2025 HB 1217 rent cap entirely, miss the verbatim trust-account notice, and don't flag the mandatory 5-day rent grace. Here is the honest side-by-side.
| Free template | BuildMyLease | |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 HB 1217 rent cap + 90-day notice | Almost universally absent. A landlord using a pre-2025 template has no in-lease record of the cap formula, exposing them to per-violation damages of up to 3× the wrongful increase. | Mandatory rendered block in every Washington lease, with the cap formula, the once-per-12-month rule, the first-12-months freeze, and the 90-day notice spelled out. |
| Trust-account notice (RCW 59.18.270) | Most generic templates omit the institution name + address. A deposit collected without the notice is recoverable in full by the tenant. | Required institution-name + address fields, rendered verbatim in the deposit clause. |
| Move-in checklist forfeiture (RCW 59.18.260) | Treated as out-of-scope; landlords routinely collect deposits without the prerequisite checklist and lose the entire deposit when challenged. | A dedicated clause explains the forfeiture exposure and surfaces the obligation in the rendered lease. |
| Mandatory 5-day rent grace (RCW 59.18.170) | Rarely flagged. A late-fee provision charging from day 2 is unenforceable. | Hard /review error blocks the lease when the grace day count is below 5. |
| Just Cause Eviction (HB 1236, 2021) | Pre-2021 templates assume at-will non-renewal; using them invites a wrongful-termination claim. | Dedicated clause enumerating the 16+ statutory causes; the lease preserves the framework. |
| Cost | $0. | $29 per document. |
Who this is for
This is for
- Washington landlords managing 1–25 private-market units (single-family, condo, small multi-family).
- Owners who want the 2025 HB 1217 cap, the trust-account requirement, the move-in checklist, and the 30-day return baked in without researching each statute.
- Landlords issuing a new fixed-term lease OR a periodic tenancy that needs the 20-day floor framing under HB 1236 just cause.
- Owners who want the verbatim mold, fire-protection, and owner-identification disclosures rendered automatically.
This isn't for
- Manufactured-home park tenancies (separate Washington statutory regime under RCW 59.20).
- Section 8 / federally subsidized tenancies — those carry separate HAP-contract requirements that this document does not encode.
- Single-family rentals built within the last 12 years — these may be exempt from the HB 1217 cap; consult counsel for the proper carve-out language.
- Roommate or co-tenant arrangements subject to Seattle's Roommate Rights Ordinance — separate document type.
- Ongoing eviction or holdover proceedings — those require court forms, not a lease.
- Commercial leases.
Frequently asked questions
Does Washington have rent control?
Yes — as of 2025, Washington has statewide rent stabilization under HB 1217 (codified in RCW 59.18.140). Annual rent increases are capped at the lesser of 7% plus the prior 12-month CPI, or 10% absolute. There is no increase allowed in the first 12 months of a tenancy, and only one increase is permitted per 12-month period. Single-family rentals built within the last 12 years and manufactured-home parks are subject to separate rules.
How much notice does a Washington landlord need to give before raising rent?
90 days of written notice, regardless of whether the tenancy is fixed-term or month-to-month. RCW 59.18.140 (as amended by HB 1217, 2025).
Is there a cap on security deposits in Washington?
No statewide cap; cities may impose limits (Seattle has aggressive move-in-fee restrictions). The deposit must be held in a trust account at a Washington financial institution under RCW 59.18.270, and the institution name + address must appear in the lease body.
How long does a Washington landlord have to return a security deposit?
30 days after the tenant terminates the tenancy and vacates the premises (or after the landlord learns of an abandonment). RCW 59.18.280 (as amended). The return must be accompanied by an itemized written statement; deductions cannot be taken for normal wear and tear.
What is the 5-day grace period for rent?
Under RCW 59.18.170, late fees may not be charged until rent is more than five days past due. They can be calculated retroactively from day 2 once they begin to accrue, but the first five days of delinquency cannot themselves trigger a fee. BuildMyLease blocks /review when the entered grace-day count is below five.
How much notice is required to terminate a month-to-month tenancy?
A tenant must give the landlord at least 20 days' written notice before the end of any rental period (RCW 59.18.200). A landlord cannot decline to renew or terminate without statutory cause under HB 1236 (RCW 59.18.650), which enumerates 16+ permitted causes.
What is the move-in checklist requirement?
Under RCW 59.18.260, the landlord must provide the tenant with a written checklist describing the condition and cleanliness of the premises and any furnishings, signed by both parties, before any portion of the security deposit is collected. Failure to comply forfeits the entire deposit and exposes the landlord to court costs and attorney fees.
What is just-cause eviction (HB 1236, 2021)?
Under RCW 59.18.650, a Washington landlord cannot terminate a tenancy or decline to renew it without one of the statutorily enumerated causes — non-payment, breach, criminal activity, owner-occupancy, sale of a single-family residence within 30 days of vacancy, demolition, substantial rehabilitation, withdrawal from the rental market for 12+ months, or one of several other enumerated causes. The notice must specify the cause and the supporting facts.
Is self-help eviction allowed?
No. Under RCW 59.18.290, a landlord may not lock the tenant out, shut off utility service, threaten either action, or otherwise oust the tenant from the premises outside the court process. The tenant has a cause of action for unlawful entry. The landlord must follow the unlawful-detainer process under Chapter 59.12.
Does Washington protect tenants against discrimination based on source of income?
Yes. Under RCW 59.18.255 (statewide since 2018), a landlord may not discriminate based on lawful source of income, including Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers, emergency rental assistance, government benefits, and similar lawful income sources. The Washington Law Against Discrimination (RCW 49.60.222) overlays additional protections including military/veteran status, citizenship/immigration status, sexual orientation, and gender identity or expression. The federal Fair Housing Act applies as a separate overlay.