Seattle, Washington: pet and assistance-animal laws

The cap is a total, whatever the number of animals and whenever the money is collected, and where rent is not monthly the rent is pro-rated to work it out. The tenant may pay it in three equal monthly installments beginning when the pet moves in, or on another schedule the landlord agrees to and writes into the agreement, and the landlord may not keep any of it for damage a pet did not cause. The amount must be authorized in the written rental agreement, or in an addendum if the pet arrives later, together with the payment schedule. No pet damage deposit at all may be required where the pet serves as an assistance animal, which is wider than the state's rule for service animals, though the landlord may still sue for damage the animal does. Monthly pet rent is a different thing and is not capped, because state law reserves control of rent to the state while leaving deposits and fees to the city. Enforcement is unusually strong: a landlord who enforces a contrary term owes actual damages, double any deposit unlawfully charged or withheld and attorney fees, and merely putting such a term in a new or renewed lease costs up to $3,000.

Seattle pet law at a glance

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Seattle, Washington: pet and assistance-animal laws (verified September 21, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/pets/washington/seattle/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified and what the topic covers). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

What would change it

One dated change. Ordinance No. 127497, adopted August 18, 2026, takes effect July 1, 2027 and is not yet printed in the published code. It does not amend the pet damage deposit section (Municipal Code 7.24.038): a pet damage deposit stays among the fees a landlord may charge, and any other fee for keeping a pet is prohibited. From that date the liability for including a prohibited provision in a new or renewed agreement rises from up to $3,000 to up to $4,000, and the tenant's claim reaches a breach of any section of the chapter.

Where a change in this status would appear: Seattle Municipal Code ch. 7.24 (title 7, Consumer Protection) — § 7.24.038 and its credit line.

The instrument

Section 7.24.038 of the Seattle Municipal Code, Pet damage deposits, enacted by Ordinance 125222 section 3 in 2016 and printed in the current edition of the code. It works with section 7.24.030, subsection F, which requires the deposit to be authorized in the written rental agreement or an addendum, and with the definition of a pet damage deposit in section 7.24.020. The companion section on security deposits and non-refundable move-in fees, 7.24.035, is a different rule and is often cited by mistake for this one.

Who it binds

Every landlord in the city who takes a pet damage deposit or charges for a pet. There is one asymmetry worth knowing and it is in the drafting: the exemption for a unit in a single-family residence that is the owner's principal residence is written against the security deposit section, not against the pet section, so on the face of the code the pet rules reach an owner-occupied single-family rental that the general deposit rules do not.

Which leases it reaches

The written-agreement duty and the general deposit cap apply to rental agreements entered into after January 15, 2017. The pet deposit section states no date of its own and was enacted by the same 2016 ordinance, so in practice the pet rules travel with agreements from that date. Where a pet arrives after the tenancy has started, the trigger is the pet's arrival: the amount then goes in an addendum rather than in the original agreement.

Pet deposit

25 percent of the first full month's rent, as a total regardless of when the deposit is paid, under Seattle Municipal Code section 7.24.038, subsection A. Where rent is not charged monthly the rent is pro-rated to a monthly figure for this limit. A landlord may require a pet damage deposit, but the total may not exceed 25 percent of the first full month's rent no matter when it is paid, which in effect means one cap for the household rather than one per animal. A tenant may choose to pay it in three equal monthly installments starting when the pet first occupies the unit, or propose another schedule that the landlord may agree to and that then goes in the rental agreement. The landlord may not keep any part of it for damage that was not caused by a pet the tenant is responsible for. A pet damage deposit means money paid at any time as security for damage to the landlord's property caused by such a pet.

Pet rent

Monthly pet rent is allowed and Seattle does not cap it, which sits oddly beside the ban on pet fees until the reason is stated: the state reserves control of the amount of rent to itself, so the city could not cap pet rent if it wanted to, while a deposit or a fee is not rent under state law and can be regulated locally. A landlord who wants monthly money for a pet has to charge it as rent, not as a fee.

Non-refundable pet fee

Other than the pet damage deposit the section allows, a landlord may not charge a tenant any fee for keeping a pet. That reaches every pet fee, refundable or not, one-time or recurring, not just a non-refundable one. Pet deposits are also carved out of the city's general bar on one-time start-of-tenancy charges, so the pet deposit is the only pet money a landlord may take apart from rent.

Breed, size and weight

Seattle has no breed, size or weight rule for rental housing; the pet deposit chapter says nothing about any of them. Washington reserves breed-specific dog regulation to the state, so a city breed rule is not available in any event. The sentence about breed, size and weight limits that appears on city guidance for landlords is about assistance animals under state and federal disability law and is not a rule of city ordinance.

What the lease must, or may not, say

A pet damage deposit has to be authorized in writing. If the pet is there when the tenancy begins, the amount goes in the rental agreement; if the pet arrives later, it goes in an addendum. The written agreement or addendum must identify the amount and describe the terms of the payment schedule where the tenant elects to pay in installments. No deposit of any kind may be collected unless the rental agreement is in writing and the landlord has provided a written checklist or statement describing the condition, cleanliness and existing damage of the premises and furnishings, signed and dated by both sides.

Assistance animals

A landlord may not require a pet damage deposit at all if the pet serves as an assistance animal for the tenant, though the landlord keeps the right to sue for damage the animal causes. The city's word is assistance animal, which is wider than the state's charge bar for service animals, so a Seattle tenant whose animal supports a disability without being individually trained is protected from the deposit by city law where state law alone would not protect them. The chapter does not define assistance animal, and the term appears nowhere else in it, so its content comes from outside the chapter, in the state fair-housing regulations and the landlord-tenant act. What a landlord may ask for as documentation is a state and federal question and is on those pages.

Who enforces it and how

The chapter gives the tenant a direct claim. A landlord who tries to enforce a provision contrary to the pet deposit section or its companions owes the tenant actual damages, double any penalty the city imposed, double any deposit unlawfully charged or withheld, and reasonable attorney fees and costs; a landlord who merely includes such a provision in a new or renewed agreement is liable for up to $3,000 plus fees. A tenant sued for possession, on the agreement, for penalties or to forfeit a deposit contrary to the chapter may raise it as a defense and, on winning, is awarded reasonable attorney fees and costs. The Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections administers the chapter and its director may make rules on returning deposits. The department also writes a summary of the chapter that a landlord must hand to every tenant or prospective tenant when an agreement is offered, annually to month-to-month tenants, and within 30 days of an update to existing tenants; failing to do so lets the tenant end the tenancy and recover actual damages, fees and a penalty of up to $500, or up to $1,000 if a court finds the failure deliberate.

How this fits with Washington law

Washington does not preempt what Seattle has done here, and the shape of the ordinance follows from the state statutes. The state reserves control of the amount of rent to itself, so no city may regulate what rent is charged; a deposit or a fee is not rent under the landlord-tenant act's own definition, so a city cap on a pet deposit and a city ban on pet fees are both open to it. That is exactly the line the ordinance follows. Breed is different: the state reserves breed-specific dog regulation to itself, and Seattle has no breed rule. Washington's own devolution to cities is about fair-housing enforcement and confers no pet authority, and the landlord-tenant chapters carry no preemption clause; the state statute on paying deposits in installments acknowledges that some local laws allow longer. Where Seattle is silent the state answers, and the state sets no deposit cap and no fee cap of its own, so outside the city the money question is open. On assistance animals the city rule is the stronger one: the state's charge bar is limited to service animals, and Seattle's is not.

Notes and caveats

• The right section is 7.24.038 — The pet rules are in section 7.24.038, with the written-agreement duty in section 7.24.030, subsection F, and the definition in 7.24.020. Section 7.24.035 is the general security deposit and move-in fee rule and is often cited for the pet cap by mistake. Both sections mention 25 percent and they mean different things: in the pet section it is the deposit ceiling, in the general section it is the threshold below which a tenant loses the right to pay in installments.
• One cap, not one per pet — The ordinance caps the total pet damage deposit at 25 percent of the first full month's rent regardless of when it is paid, so a landlord cannot add a second deposit for a second animal.
• No fee, but rent is allowed — A landlord may not charge any fee for keeping a pet beyond the deposit, yet monthly pet rent is permitted, because state law stops a city from regulating the amount of rent while leaving deposits and fees alone. The distinction is between a fee and rent, not between refundable and non-refundable.
• Assistance animals get no deposit at all — The bar covers an animal that serves as an assistance animal, which is broader than the state's service-animal rule, and the landlord keeps a claim for damage the animal causes. The chapter does not define the term, so its meaning comes from the state disability rules.
• An owner-occupied house is treated differently by the two sections — The exemption for a unit in a single-family residence that the owner lives in is written against the general deposit section and does not appear in the pet section, so on the face of the code the pet rules still reach that landlord.
• A later ordinance takes effect July 1, 2027 — Ordinance No. 127497, adopted August 18, 2026, takes effect July 1, 2027 and is not yet printed in the published code. It does not amend the pet damage deposit section; it keeps a pet damage deposit among the fees a landlord may charge and prohibits any other fee for keeping a pet. From that date a landlord who includes a prohibited provision in a new or renewed agreement is liable for up to $4,000, up from $3,000.
• General deposits and move-in fees — A security deposit and non-refundable move-in fees together may not exceed one month's rent, and the non-refundable fees alone may not exceed 10 percent of the first full month's rent. No deposit may be collected without a written agreement and a signed move-in condition checklist. The security-deposits page carries those rules.
• The rules ride a mandatory handout — The city department writes a summary of this chapter that landlords must give tenants when an agreement is offered, annually for month-to-month tenancies and within 30 days of an update, with penalties of up to $500, or $1,000 for a deliberate failure. The lease-disclosures page carries the disclosure duties.
• Federal rules — The Fair Housing Act, the housing regulations under it, the rules for assisted and public housing and the status of the federal assistance-animal guidance are on the federal section of the 50-state page.
• Legislation — No council measure amending the chapter is known beyond the unnumbered later ordinance noted above. Washington sets no pet deposit or pet fee rule of its own, so outside Seattle the answer is the state one.

Citations

• Seattle Municipal Code §§ 7.24.020, 7.24.030, 7.24.035, 7.24.038, 7.24.050, 7.24.060, 7.24.070, 7.24.080 (§ 7.24.038: Ord. 125222, § 3, 2016) · § 7.24.038.A–E; § 7.24.030.F; § 7.24.020 (pet damage deposit); § 7.24.035.A, B.1, B.4, E, H; § 7.24.060.A.1–2 (verified 2026) Official source
• RCW 35.21.830 (control of rent preempted by the state) (verified 2026) Official source

How this record was verified: The whole of title 7 of the Seattle Municipal Code, Consumer Protection, was read on September 21, 2026 from the code publisher's own service for the city, and sections 7.24.020, 7.24.030, 7.24.035, 7.24.038, 7.24.050, 7.24.060, 7.24.070 and 7.24.080 were read in full with their credit lines. The edition line read with them says the code is codified through Ordinance No. 127423, passed April 14, 2026, Supplement 44 Update 1, with the compilation tracking council action to July 15, 2026 and posted August 24, 2026. The definition list in section 7.24.020 was read entry by entry and carries no animal term. The city's own explanatory pages for landlords were deliberately not used as the source of any figure here; the code text governs. The Washington answers come from the state reading: the statute that reserves control of the amount of rent to the state, the landlord-tenant act's definition of rent, the state breed preemption, and the state rules on assistance animals.

What was read to state each absence on this page: The whole of title 7 of the Seattle Municipal Code was read on September 21, 2026 and the terms run over it were pet, pets, animal, dog, guide dog, service dog, service animal, assistance animal, support animal, emotional support, companion animal, breed, weight, size, deposit, fee, nonrefundable, installment, registration and certificate. Pet and pets occur 27 times in the title and in only five sections: 17 in the pet damage deposit section, four in the rental agreement requirements, three in an unrelated unit-pricing section about pet food, two in the definition section and one in the security deposit section's list of permitted charges. There is no other pet provision in the city's consumer protection title, no breed rule in the chapter, and no occurrence of service animal or emotional support anywhere in it. The definition list was read entry by entry and defines no animal term, which is why the meaning of assistance animal is described here as coming from outside the chapter.

This page records Seattle's own law on pets and assistance animals in rentals. The statewide position — Washington has no pet-deposit statute and no cap on a residential security deposit at all, so a pet deposit, a pet fee and pet rent are whatever the lease says — lives on the Washington pets and assistance-animals page with its own citations and verification date.