What late fees can a landlord charge in Washington?
Washington sets no statewide dollar or percentage cap on residential late fees, but a landlord may not charge any late fee when rent is paid within five days of the due date — a statutory grace period under RCW 59.18.170(2).
Cited to RCW 59.18.170 (2)-(3) and 1 more cited source · Verified October 1, 2026
The five-day rule has a sting in its tail: if rent goes more than five days late, the statute lets fees accrue retroactively from the first day after the due date, not just from day six — though nothing stops a pay-or-vacate notice from being served as soon as rent is due. The fee must be provided for in the rental agreement, tenants whose primary income is monthly government assistance arriving after the rent date have a statutory right to demand a due date up to five days later, and cities and counties are increasingly active here: several localities cap late fees or ban notice-service fees, so the lease and the local code both need checking. One caution for anyone reading 2025 coverage: early versions of the rent-stabilization bill would have capped late fees at 1.5% of monthly rent statewide, and some summaries still repeat that figure, but it did not become law for standard rentals — manufactured-home communities have their own separate fee limits.
Washington late fees at a glance
| Statutory cap | No statutory cap (see reasonableness standard and notes) |
|---|---|
| Mandatory grace period | 5 days |
| Must be in the lease | Yes |
| Daily fees | No statewide statute caps or structures late-fee amounts for standard residential tenancies, so whether a daily fee is allowed is a matter for the lease. Several cities cap late fees locally; those local ordinances are outside the scope of this page. |
| Reasonableness standard | No statewide amount cap exists for standard residential tenancies, but no late fee at all may be charged for rent paid within five days after the due date (RCW 59.18.170(2)). If rent is more than five days past due, fees may be charged 'commencing from the first day after the due date until paid,' i.e., retroactively to day one. Committee-stage versions of HB 1217 (2025) contained a 1.5%-of-monthly-rent late fee cap that was not enacted for standard rentals; manufactured/mobile-home tenancies have their own fee limits under ch. 59.20 RCW. |
Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Washington Late Fee Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/late-fees/washington/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.
Check a late fee against the Washington rules — free, no signup, built on the same verified Washington law as this page.
Notes and caveats
- The 5-day grace period is statutory, not a lease term — the five-day no-fee window comes from RCW 59.18.170(2), added by 2020 c 177.
- Once rent is more than 5 days late, fees run from day one — the grace period does not survive being missed: fees accrue retroactively from the first day after the due date, not from day six.
- Tenants on monthly government assistance can move the due date — subsection (3) gives tenants on monthly governmental assistance a right to a written due-date shift of up to five days, which the landlord shall accept.
- The 1.5% cap that was never enacted — committee reports on HB 1217 (2025) carried a 1.5%-of-monthly-rent late fee cap that did not become law for standard rentals. The figure is still circulating and is a live misinformation risk.
- Local caps are real and are not reflected here — several cities cap late fees locally. Those local limits sit outside this page, so the local code needs checking alongside the statute.
- Source: the official statute text — the late-fee rules stated here, including the five-day window of RCW 59.18.170(2), come from the statute text as published by the Washington Legislature at app.leg.wa.gov.
- A lease clause charging a fee inside the five days is void — Since July 27, 2025 a rental agreement may not provide that the tenant agrees to pay late fees for rent paid within five days of the due date. That is separate from the bar on the landlord charging such a fee: the clause itself is one of the terms a rental agreement may not contain. A prohibited term is unenforceable, and a landlord who knowingly uses an agreement containing a term known to be prohibited owes the tenant actual damages, statutory damages of up to twice the monthly rent for the unit, costs of suit and reasonable attorney fees. The bar applies to agreements entered into or renewed on or after July 27, 2025 (RCW 59.18.230(2)(i), (3)).
Common questions: Washington late fees
Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.
- Is there a legal limit on late fees in Washington?
- No statutory cap (see reasonableness standard and notes). No statewide amount cap exists for standard residential tenancies, but no late fee at all may be charged for rent paid within five days after the due date (RCW 59.18.170(2)).
- Is there a grace period before rent is late in Washington?
- 5 days.
- Does a late fee have to be written into the lease in Washington?
- Yes — in Washington a late fee must be stated in the lease.
- Can a landlord charge a daily late fee in Washington?
- No statewide statute caps or structures late-fee amounts for standard residential tenancies, so whether a daily fee is allowed is a matter for the lease.
Citations
- RCW 59.18.170 · (2)-(3) (verified 2026) Official source
- RCW 59.18.230 (provisions prohibited from a rental agreement; remedies) · (2)(i), (3) (verified 2026) Official source
How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Washington Legislature site (app.leg.wa.gov): RCW 59.18.280 (full text, current through the 2023 c 331 amendments), RCW 59.18.610 and 59.18.253 (full text); RCW 59.18.170 and RCW 59.18.150 full texts read 2026-07-09 (upgrading them from the 2026-07-08 multi-source corroboration). HB 1217 (2025) rent stabilization provisions (RCW 59.18.700-.730, amended 59.18.140) verified against the Washington Attorney General's official landlord-tenant page and Know Your Responsibilities flyer and the Department of Commerce's official HB 1217 Landlord Resource Center (which publishes the annual cap; re-read directly 2026-07-16 — 9.683% for calendar 2026, and the 2027 figure is now published: 10%, because 7% + June 2026 Seattle CPI = 11.53% exceeds the 10% statutory ceiling, so the ceiling controls). RCW 59.18.260, .270, and .285 initially corroborated across the official AG page, Seattle SDCI, and consistent legal-aid sources, then read directly and in full on the official app.leg.wa.gov pages 2026-08-05 (each read twice, all dependent claims confirmed verbatim, and the three sections added to the deposit topic's citations); the rent-stabilization sunset was pinned the same day from the statute text itself (RCW 59.18.700(8), 59.18.710(3), 59.18.720(4) each expire July 1, 2040; session law 2025 c 209). Committee-stage reports on HB 1217 describe a one-month residential deposit cap and a 1.5% late-fee cap that are NOT in the enacted law for standard residential tenancies. For manufactured/mobile-home tenancies the enacted law caps move-in fees and deposits at one month's rent, two with pets (RCW 59.20.170(1)), and sets tiered late-fee limits of 2%, 3% and 5% (RCW 59.20.060(2)(j)); chapter 59.18 RCW, read in full, sets no statewide residential deposit or late-fee amount cap. October 1, 2026: RCW 59.18.030, .125, .140, .150, .170, .253, .260, .270, .280, .285, .610, .700, .710, .720 and .730, RCW 59.12.040, RCW 35.21.830 and 36.01.130 and RCW 59.20.060 and 59.20.170 were read again on app.leg.wa.gov (site last updated July 15, 2026, with the 2026 session included), and the 2026 and 2027 maximum increases on the Department of Commerce's page.