How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Washington?

30 days. The deadline runs from termination of the rental agreement and the tenant's move-out. By then the landlord must deliver any refund due plus a full and specific statement of the basis for anything retained, with copies of estimates received or invoices paid attached to substantiate damage charges.

What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Washington?

A landlord who fails to give the statement, the documentation, and the refund within 30 days is liable for the FULL deposit and is barred from asserting any claim or defense for retaining it — unless prevented by circumstances beyond the landlord's control, or the tenant abandoned the premises.

Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Washington?

No — Washington does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. Deposits must still be placed in a trust account with a bank or licensed escrow agent in Washington, and unless the parties otherwise agree in writing the landlord — not the tenant — is entitled to any interest paid on that account.

Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Washington?

Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in Washington.

What are the security deposit rules in Washington?

Verified October 1, 2026 All Washington topics →

Washington sets no statewide cap on residential security deposit amounts, but it heavily regulates everything else: a deposit may be collected only under a written rental agreement with a signed move-in condition checklist, must sit in a Washington trust or escrow account disclosed to the tenant by written receipt, and must be returned within 30 days of move-out with a full and specific statement backed by copies of estimates or invoices for every damage charge.

Cited to RCW 59.18.280 (1)-(3) and 6 more cited sources · Verified October 1, 2026

Wear from ordinary use can never be charged — and undocumented charges can neither be collected nor sent to a credit or tenant-screening agency. Missing the 30-day deadline makes the landlord liable for the whole deposit and, in the tenant's suit to recover it, bars any claim or defense for keeping any of it unless circumstances beyond the landlord's control prevented compliance or the tenant abandoned the unit; intentional refusal risks a discretionary award of up to twice the deposit, and the prevailing party recovers attorney's fees. Tenants also have statutory rights to pay deposits, nonrefundable fees, and last month's rent in installments on written request (unless the deposits and fees together are no more than 25% of the first full month's rent and last month's rent is not required up front), and a fee to hold a unit before move-in is capped at 25% of the first month's rent.

Washington security deposits at a glance

Maximum deposit	No statutory cap
Return deadline	30 days
Deadline conditions	The deadline runs from termination of the rental agreement and the tenant's move-out. By then the landlord must deliver any refund due plus a full and specific statement of the basis for anything retained, with copies of estimates received or invoices paid attached to substantiate damage charges. For abandonment as defined in RCW 59.18.310, the 30 days instead run from the date the landlord learns of it. Delivery to the tenant personally, or deposit in the mail properly addressed to the tenant's last known address with first-class postage prepaid, within the 30 days complies (RCW 59.18.280(1)). The deadline was extended from 21 to 30 days, and the documentation requirement added, by the 2023 amendments (2023 c 331).
Itemization required	Yes
Itemization rules	The statement must be full and specific, and damage charges must be substantiated with copies of estimates or invoices. No charge may be made for 'wear resulting from ordinary use of the premises' (defined in RCW 59.18.030 as deterioration from intended use, including age-related breakage, but excluding negligence, carelessness, accident, or abuse), and damages not substantiated by the required documentation may neither be charged to the tenant nor reported to any consumer reporting agency or tenant screening service (RCW 59.18.280(3)(b)). Carpet cleaning may not be withheld without documented damage beyond ordinary-use wear.
Separate account required	Yes
Interest owed to tenant	No
Account & interest rules	Deposits must still be placed in a trust account with a bank or licensed escrow agent in Washington, and unless the parties otherwise agree in writing the landlord — not the tenant — is entitled to any interest paid on that account. The tenant must get a written receipt stating the depository's name and address, plus notice of any change; on sale, the deposit transfers to a comparable account of the successor landlord, who must promptly notify the tenant of the new depository (RCW 59.18.270). A deposit may be collected at all only under a WRITTEN rental agreement and only after both parties sign a written checklist describing the condition and cleanliness of the premises and furnishings (RCW 59.18.260).
Pet deposits	No statute addresses a pet deposit, and no general deposit cap exists for one to count against. The pet-deposit rule, pet rent and fees, and the assistance-animal rules are on the pets and assistance animals page.
Non-refundable fees allowed	Yes
Penalty for violation	A landlord who fails to give the statement, the documentation, and the refund within 30 days is liable for the FULL deposit and is barred from asserting any claim or defense for retaining it — unless prevented by circumstances beyond the landlord's control, or the tenant abandoned the premises. Courts may in their discretion award up to two times the deposit for intentional refusal, and the prevailing party recovers attorney's fees (RCW 59.18.280(2)). Failing the 59.18.260 checklist prerequisite exposes the landlord to liability for the deposit; suits for damages exceeding the deposit must be filed within three years for tenancies whose rental agreements were initiated on or after July 23, 2023 (RCW 59.18.280(3)(c)).
Tenant forwarding-address duty	Not addressed by statute

Cite this page: "Landlord Atlas, Washington Security Deposit Laws (verified October 1, 2026), landlordatlas.com/laws/security-deposits/washington/" — free to cite and quote with a link (how these records are verified). Everything above is cited in the citations section below.

Generate a Washington security-deposit return letter — free, no signup, built on the same verified Washington law as this page.

Editable Washington deposit kit — the deposit disposition letter, the move-in receipt with the custody and interest statements, a deposits-held register with the return deadline computed, and the rules fact sheet built on the verified Washington rules on this page, in Word, fillable PDF and Excel.

Notes and caveats

No statewide cap on deposit size — Washington sets no maximum deposit amount for standard residential tenancies, which is why no cap figure appears here — it is an absence of law, not a missing number.
The one-month cap that never became law — committee-stage reports of HB 1217 (2025) described a one-month deposit cap that did not survive into the enacted law for standard rentals; it applies to manufactured and mobile-home tenancies. Summaries still repeating it are describing a bill version, not the statute.
Cities cap deposits even though the state does not — local ordinances — Seattle's among them — cap deposits. Those local caps are not reflected here, so the municipal code needs checking alongside the statute.
Nonrefundable fees must say so in writing — a fee is nonrefundable only if the lease designates it as nonrefundable in writing (RCW 59.18.285). An undesignated fee is a deposit, and carries every deposit rule with it.
The move-in checklist is a prerequisite, not a formality — under RCW 59.18.260 the checklist is a condition of collecting a deposit at all — no checklist, no lawful deposit.
Older sources still say 21 days — the 2023 amendments (2023 c 331) modernized this section: 21 days became 30, damage charges now require documentation, ordinary-use wear got a definition, undocumented charges may not be credit-reported, carpet cleaning was addressed, and a 3-year suit limit was added. Anything citing 21 days is stale.
A monthly fee instead of a deposit — A landlord who waives the security deposit may offer the tenant a monthly fee instead. The choice belongs to the tenant: the option must be strictly optional, it may not be used in deciding whether to approve an application, and where it is offered at all it must be offered to every approved applicant. The fee is not a security deposit and is not refunded on move-out; it may be wholly or partly non-refundable if the lease says so and the tenant acknowledges it separately. It is not rent, so failing to pay it is not a ground for eviction, though the landlord may sue for it. The landlord must use the fee to buy insurance against unpaid amounts and damage, must give the tenant the written checklist that goes with a deposit, and must hand over a disclosure in substantially the form the statute sets out with every lease and every renewal that includes the option. The Attorney General publishes that form in the twelve most commonly spoken languages in Washington. A tenant may stop paying the fee at any time by paying the security deposit named in the disclosure. Once the tenant has moved out, the landlord has one year from the end of the tenancy to start a court action or collection activity, and must first notify the tenant of the claim and forward the documents that substantiate it. A material violation is worth up to twice the monthly rent, plus costs and reasonable attorney fees (RCW 59.18.670).

Common questions: Washington security deposits

Each answer is the verified value from the table above, restated as a direct answer. Free to quote with a link to this page.

How much can a landlord charge for a security deposit in Washington?: No statutory cap.
How long does a landlord have to return a security deposit in Washington?: 30 days. The deadline runs from termination of the rental agreement and the tenant's move-out. By then the landlord must deliver any refund due plus a full and specific statement of the basis for anything retained, with copies of estimates received or invoices paid attached to substantiate damage charges.
What happens if a landlord does not return the deposit on time in Washington?: A landlord who fails to give the statement, the documentation, and the refund within 30 days is liable for the FULL deposit and is barred from asserting any claim or defense for retaining it — unless prevented by circumstances beyond the landlord's control, or the tenant abandoned the premises.
Do landlords have to pay interest on security deposits in Washington?: No — Washington does not require interest on the security deposit to be paid to the tenant. Deposits must still be placed in a trust account with a bank or licensed escrow agent in Washington, and unless the parties otherwise agree in writing the landlord — not the tenant — is entitled to any interest paid on that account.
Can a landlord charge a non-refundable fee in Washington?: Yes — non-refundable fees are allowed in Washington.

Citations

RCW 59.18.280 · (1)-(3) (verified 2026) Official source
RCW 59.18.260 · (1)-(5) (verified 2026) Official source
RCW 59.18.270 (verified 2026) Official source
RCW 59.18.285 (verified 2026) Official source
RCW 59.18.253 · (3)-(4) (verified 2026) Official source
RCW 59.18.610 · (1)-(4) (verified 2026) Official source
RCW 59.18.670 (security deposit waiver; disclosure form; fee in lieu; claims; collection; violation) · (1)-(6) (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.