If a lease contains a section or language that attempts to waive your rights as defined in the Landlord and Tenant Act, that particular section will be deemed unenforceable. The rest of the lease is still valid. No rental agreement may waive your rights or remedies, require you to pay attorneys` fees that are not permitted by law, indemnify the landlord for any costs incurred, or create a lien on the tenant`s property. Read the wording of the law for a complete list. The landlord cannot include something in an agreement that: Lease – can be a written agreement (a lease) or a verbal agreement to rent an apartment. Under state law, the landlord must notify you at least 20 days in advance. RCW 59.18.200(1)(a). Example: The rental period ends on June 30, when the rent is due on July 1. The landlord must inform you by June 9 that you must move.
Landlords are required to give tenants at least 90 days` notice from month to month if they enter into a policy that excludes children from rental housing.7 You must give at least 120 days` notice if they wish to make major changes to the rental property, including demolition of the building or conversion to condominiums. The landlord must try to rent the unit as soon as they find out you`ve moved. If they can rent it less than 30 days after your move, you only have to pay for the days when the apartment was empty. RCW 59.18.310. After the next month, you don`t have to pay anything. Landlords can check (screen) your rental history, eviction history, credit history, and criminal history before renting you. Most of the time, they hire a company to carry out these checks. The «screening fee» is paid by this company. If a storm, fire or vandal damages the device, inform the owner immediately. They shouldn`t charge you for repairs if you or your guests didn`t cause the damage.
You can also create a police report if someone else has damaged your rental unit. The landlord cannot withhold any of the detention fees if the unit does not pass an inspection of the tenant`s rent assistance program. Example: If you have a section 8 voucher and the inspection is not completed within ten days of payment of the fee, the landlord is not required to hold the place, but to reimburse the detention fee. Your rent is $750 per month. The repair cost was $1,000. You could deduct $750 from the rent in April and the last $250 from the May rent. Landlords must notify tenants in writing for at least 30 days to change all other terms of a monthly tenancy in addition to a rent increase.6 All changes take effect on a day the rent is due. So if a landlord wants to add a non-smoking rule to the lease and ends on July 20, the new deadline would apply from September 1. You must send the landlord a letter indicating that you are moving.
The landlord must receive the letter at least 20 days before the end of the rental period. RCW 59.18.200(1)(a). The end of the rental period is the day before the start of the rental period. The day you deliver the message does not count within 20 days. Rent increases: RCW 59.18.140 requires landlords to give tenants 60 days` notice before increasing rent. For monthly rent, the landlord must notify you in writing for 60 days before each rent increase (except for some subsidized rental units, the landlord must notify you in writing for at least 30 days). In all parts of Washington State, a landlord doesn`t need to have a reason to terminate a monthly lease, except in Seattle. In Seattle, a landlord must have one of these reasons for terminating a monthly lease, namely: In most cases, each party to a monthly lease in Washington must terminate at least 20 days before the last day of the lease payment period to terminate the contract. The notification must be made in writing and include the end date of the rental agreement.
Tenants who do not move by the specified end date can be evicted. This is money you give to the owner when you move in. The landlord can use it to cover unpaid rent or damages. You can`t use your deposit to pay your last rent of the month unless the landlord agrees. Except in an emergency, the landlord must notify you in writing for at least two days before entering your tenancy to make repairs or inspect the area. However, if the landlord wants to show the rental unit to a new tenant or potential buyer, all they have to do is notify you in writing for 1 day. The notice must state: Replace a lock or give yourself a new key at your own expense if you request it after receiving a court order granting you ownership of a rental unit and excluding a former roommate. Example: After receiving an injunction against an abusive ex-partner or spouse. RCW 59.18.585 Maintain the device so that it does not violate national and local laws in a way that endangers your health and safety No. Some things are illegal to include in leases. If your agreement contains any of them, you don`t have to follow it.
RCW 59.18.230. For a monthly deal: In almost every area of Washington, the landlord doesn`t need a reason to ask you to move. They just need to let you know in writing in advance that they want you to move. It is important that you read a lease very carefully before signing it. This is a legally binding contract, and you may be bound by any rental terms once you have signed the document, as long as they do not conflict with state or local laws. Residential Unit — An apartment, house, mobile home or other structure or part of a structure that you rent to live in. We also call it a «rental». Examples: Your monthly rent is $750. They hired someone to do the repairs in March. It cost $1,500.
You could deduct $750 from the April rent and $750 from the May rent. You wouldn`t have to pay rent for April or May. Tenants who are not modest enough before moving must pay the rent either for the following month or for 30 days from the date the landlord determined they moved, whichever comes first.3 Since landlords in Washington must try to re-rent a unit once they know it is empty, tenants can only pay the rent for the days when the dwelling was empty. To increase the rent for a monthly rental, Washington landlords must notify tenants in writing for 60 days.5 For some subsidized rental units, landlords can only do 30 days in writing. As long as they are modest, there is no upper limit to the amount of rent that landlords can increase. Each repair must cost less than 2 months` rent if you hire someone, or less than 1 month`s rent if you do the work yourself. You give this fee to the landlord to make sure they don`t rent the unit to someone else before you move in. Usually, the landlord will retain a liability fee or a deposit if you change your mind and don`t move in. When you move in, the landlord must credit this fee on the deposit or the first month`s rent. Monthly leases in Washington are usually easy to sign and easy to leave with 20 days` notice.
Recent changes to state law provide greater protection for tenants and require landlords to cancel up to 120 days in some cases.1 While most monthly leases in the state can be terminated for any reason, Seattle requires «for good reason» to terminate a lease. In most cases, the landlord can only change a lease that has already been signed if you agree to the change. After the end of the rental period (usually at the end of the first year), the landlord can increase the rent with appropriate written notice. Minimum notice – At least twenty (20) days in advance before either party terminates a monthly lease (§ 59.18.200(1)(a)). This information covers most people in Washington State who rent out where they live («apartment tenants»). Many laws apply to the relationship between tenants and landlords. We explain the most common state laws regarding your rights and obligations as a tenant. The most important is the Apartment Owners Act (RCW 59.18) or «RLTA». RCW stands for Revised Code of Washington, the law of the state of Washington.
This is not a deposit. The landlord can only use it to pay your last month`s rent. Example: The owner cannot keep it for damage. If you stay beyond the end of a lease and the landlord accepts the rent for the following month, you become a «monthly» tenant. All the rules for monthly tenants now apply to you. *Victim of assault or spousal violence: If you are the victim of threatening behaviour by another tenant or your landlord, OR if you are a victim of spousal violence, you may be able to terminate your lease more quickly. RCW 59.18.352, 59.18.354, 59.18.575. . .