Washington state month to month lease termination

Q: When can a landlord terminate a lease Washington State?

If the landlord has a business or economic reason to no longer rent the place, the landlord can give you a 60-Day Notice. Landlord needs place for self or family. If the landlord or their immediate family needs to move into the rental unit, the landlord can give you a 90-Day Notice.

Table of Contents Show

How To Write
Landlords Must Give 14 Days’ Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate
Landlords Must Give 60 Days’ Notice for Rent Increases
“Rent” Now Includes Recurring Charges
Landlords Must Apply Tenants’ Payments to Rent First
Tenants Can’t Be Removed for Non-Payment of Non-Rent Charges
Landlords Must Give 120 Days’ Notice for Substantial Rehabilitation, Change of Use or Demolitions
New Methods for Landlords to Serve Eviction Notices
Courts May Stop an Eviction Upon Good Cause
Tenants Can Remain in Residence After Satisfying Court Judgment
Other Updates
The Bottom Line
How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant to move out in Washington?
When can a landlord terminate a lease Washington State?
Can a landlord end a month
How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant to move out?

Updated August 08, 2022

Or use an attorney at ContractsCounsel to write this letter.

A Washington Lease Termination Letter Form (20-Day Notice) is a legal document, designed to provide notice of the coming termination of a tenancy. The document complies the Washington state law, providing twenty (20) days’ notice to the tenants to vacate the premises while offering a warning of eviction if they do not vacate by the stated date.

Laws – RCWA 59.18.200

How To Write

Step 1 – Download the document and enter the name(s) of the Tenant(s) at the top of the page

Step 2 – Location of Property

Landlord must enter the address of the property to be vacated

Step 3 – Termination Date

Landlord must enter the date of the last day of the rental period as the termination date. The notice must provide at least 20 days notice and must be delivered in a timely fashion to provide fair timing for the tenant(s) to vacate properly.

Step 4 – Date of Notification

Landlord must enter the date of the preparation of the document

Step 5 – Signature

Enter the signature of the landlord or their agent
Enter the printed name of the landlord or agent
Landlord or agent must provide their address
The document must be delivered to the tenant(s) address as stated within the initial document and the tenant(s) must be made aware of it’s existence as soon as possible

New landlord-tenant laws in Washington state went into effect July 28, 2019, introducing major changes to eviction laws, notice requirements, and more. We explain the main updates and what Washington landlords need to do.

Landlords Must Give 14 Days’ Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate

If a landlord wants to evict a tenant for not paying rent, they must now give their tenant 14 days’ notice to pay or vacate. Before, it was 3 days’ notice.

What should landlords do?
Download and use the new 14-Day Notice to Pay Rent or Vacate form. Serve eviction notices as soon as possible. Adjust grace periods for rent payments, if you have them, to avoid delaying the eviction process.

Landlords Must Give 60 Days’ Notice for Rent Increases

Landlords must give tenants with month-to-month leases 60 days’ notice for rent increases (see what counts as rent in the next section). Previously, only 30 days’ notice was required.

For tenants with fixed-term leases, required notice for rent increases is still 30 days, but landlords can’t raise rent before the rental agreement is complete. (This doesn’t apply to tenants in subsidized housing units where rent changes based on income.)

What should landlords do?
Give notice at the end or start of the month so you can begin collecting the new rent amount as soon as possible.

“Rent” Now Includes Recurring Charges

In Washington state, “rent” is now defined to mean “[…] recurring and periodic charges identified in the rental agreement for use and occupancy of premises […]” That means rent includes recurring charges like utilities and payment plans.

Equally important, rent excludes:

Late payment fees
Damages/repair costs
Deposits
Legal costs
Attorneys’ fees

What should landlords do?
Consider requiring upfront payment of security deposits and other one-off fees. If you collect a security deposit, consider breaking it up into a payment plan or requiring an upfront payment. Go through eviction or small claims court to collect these fees.

Landlords Must Apply Tenants’ Payments to Rent First

Landlords are now required to use a tenant’s payments for rent first and before any other charges like late fees or repairs.

What should landlords do?
Update any lease terms that say otherwise.

Tenants Can’t Be Removed for Non-Payment of Non-Rent Charges

Landlords can still try to collect unpaid charges through legal means, but they can no longer evict a tenant for not paying any charge besides their rent payment.

What should landlords do?
Build any current one-off fees into the rent price, or require them upfront, to avoid late or missed payments.

Landlords Must Give 120 Days’ Notice for Substantial Rehabilitation, Change of Use or Demolitions

Landlords must give 120 days’ notice for the termination of month-to-month tenancies before major building changes that require tenants to leave the building. Previously, 20 days’ notice was required.

As a reminder, an owner or immediate family needing to occupy the unit doesn’t qualify as change of use.

What should landlords do?
Update any lease terms that say otherwise.

New Methods for Landlords to Serve Eviction Notices

A landlord can now post an unlawful detainer summons after 3 attempts at personal service, meaning there were 3 attempts over 2 days at different times of day to serve the tenant the eviction notice in person.

What should landlords do?
Document when and how you attempted to serve notice in person.

Courts May Stop an Eviction Upon Good Cause

Washington courts have judicial discretion, which means the court may stop an eviction based on the tenant’s intent, past payment history, hardship if evicted, conduct related to the current lease and past eviction notices, and more.

Judicial discretion does notapply to tenants who have been served 3 or more notices to pay or vacate within 12 months of the current eviction notice.

What should landlords do?
Document tenant conduct that violates your lease or other issues with on-time payment.

Tenants Can Remain in Residence After Satisfying Court Judgment

If the tenant is found liable in court but pays “[…] any rent, court costs, late fees or attorneys’ fees if awarded, into court or landlord within 5 court days […]” they may remain a tenant. If the cause for eviction is non-payment, tenants can also request a payment plan from the court.

What should landlords do?
If the court judgment is paid by the tenant, the landlord must file a satisfaction of judgment form.

Other Updates

Tenants no longer have to pay into the court registry to attempt to stop an eviction.
If a tenant defaults on their court-ordered payment plan, landlords can file a claim through the Landlord Mitigation Program.
For landlords to be awarded attorneys’ fees in an eviction trial, the judgment has to be for more than 2 months’ rent or $1,200, whichever is greater. If the tenant files for reinstatement and they aren’t reinstated, attorneys’ fees may not be awarded.
Members of the Armed Forces (and spouses or dependents) may give 20 days’ notice to break a lease if the service member has been released from duty, assigned elsewhere, given deployment orders, etc.
The eviction summons form has been updated with legal resources for tenants, details on when and how to respond to the court, and the consequences for not responding.

The Bottom Line

The new landlord-tenant laws in Washington state make it more difficult to evict tenants for non-payment and require landlords to give more notice for a variety of changes. If you’re a landlord in Washington state, make sure to read the new state and local laws. You can also:

Update your Washington state leases to reflect the new laws.
Make it easy for your tenants to pay rent and recurring payments on time.
Stay up to date with Washington state landlord-tenant laws.

Still have questions? Use the on-call lawyer network at Rocket Lawyer to get answers.

This article is for educational purposes and is not meant to serve as legal advice.

How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant to move out in Washington?

Notice Requirements for Washington Landlords A landlord can simply give you a written notice to move, allowing you 20 days as required by Washington law and specifying the date on which your tenancy will end.

When can a landlord terminate a lease Washington State?

If the landlord has a "business or economic reason" to no longer rent the place, the landlord can give you a 60-Day Notice. Landlord needs place for self or family. If the landlord or their immediate family needs to move into the rental unit, the landlord can give you a 90-Day Notice.

Can a landlord end a month

Month-to-month: The renter may end their rental agreement with a minimum 20 day written notice prior to the end of the month. The property owner may end the rental agreement only if they have a just cause reason. (See Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 22.205 for more detail.)

How much notice does a landlord have to give a tenant to move out?

Terminating a tenancy However, if you do not have a fixed-term tenancy, the landlord can ask you to leave during the first 6 months without giving a reason. They must serve a valid written notice of termination and give you a minimum 90-day notice period.