Landlord Atlas

Seattle, Washington: Rent Control (none; barred by state law)

Verified August 17, 2026 All Washington topics →

Seattle has no rent control of its own and cannot adopt one: RCW 35.21.830 has barred Washington cities from regulating the amount of rent since 1981.

Cited to RCW 35.21.830 (local rent control preempted) and 16 more sources · Verified August 17, 2026

Rent increases in Seattle are capped by state law instead. Since May 7, 2025, RCW 59.18.700 has barred any increase during a tenancy's first 12 months and limited later increases to 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower, with the exact figure set each year by the Washington State Department of Commerce: 9.683% for 2026 and 10% for 2027. Guides that call Seattle rent-controlled are wrong, and guides that say Seattle has no rent rules at all are also wrong. The city requires 180 days' notice of any rent increase, makes landlords fund relocation assistance for lower-income households pushed out by increases of 10% or more, requires just cause to end a tenancy, and requires every rental property to be registered before it can be rented.

Current published figures

Figure Value Applies to Source
Maximum annual rent increase, statewide 9.683% January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026 Official source
Maximum annual rent increase, statewide 10% January 1, 2027 to December 31, 2027 Official source

These figures change on a published cycle; each row states the window it applies to and links the source that published it. Confirm the current figure at the source before acting on it.

What is in force

Seattle has no rent control or rent stabilization of its own, and Washington law does not let it adopt one. RCW 35.21.830, in force since 1981 and never amended, says rent control is a matter of statewide significance and no city or town may enact, maintain, or enforce any provision regulating the amount of rent charged for residential rental property. What limits rent increases in Seattle is state law instead: RCW 59.18.700 has capped most residential rent increases across Washington since May 7, 2025. Under that state law a landlord may not raise the rent at all during the first 12 months of a tenancy, and after that may raise it once in any 12-month period by no more than 7% plus inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower; the Washington State Department of Commerce publishes the exact percentage for each calendar year, usually in July for the year ahead. There is no vacancy control: state law lets a landlord set the rent at any amount after a tenant moves out and the tenancy ends. Seattle adds no cap of its own and cannot.

What housing is covered

The state ban on local rent control covers every city and town in Washington and reaches single-family and multiple-unit rental property; it does not reach housing in public ownership or under public management, or low-income housing provided under a public-private agreement, and a 1981 note preserves local rules on rent at floating home moorage sites. The state cap covers most residential rentals in Seattle but not all: increases are not limited for a unit whose first certificate of occupancy was issued 12 or fewer years before the notice, for public housing authority, public development authority or qualifying nonprofit housing with regulated rents, for low-income housing tax credit properties, for a unit where the tenant shares a kitchen or bathroom with a resident owner, for a single-family owner-occupied home where the owner rents no more than two units or bedrooms, or for an owner-occupied duplex, triplex or fourplex. The last three of those do not apply if the owner is a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or a limited liability company with a corporate member.

Eviction and termination rules

Seattle requires just cause to end a tenancy. A landlord may end or refuse to renew a tenancy only for one of the reasons listed in Municipal Code 22.205.010 and no others, and may not evict at all while the property is unregistered with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections (22.214.040) — every rental property in Seattle must be registered before it can be rented, a registration lasts two years, and as of January 2026 the fee is $126 per property covering the first unit plus $31.50 for each additional unit, with a $52.50 late fee and an inspection at least once every 5 to 10 years. Two seasonal defenses apply. A moderate-income household renting from an owner who owns more than four rental units in Seattle can defend against an eviction that would force it out between December 1 and March 1 (22.205.080). A child, a student, a person with legal custody of one, or a school employee can defend against an eviction that would force them out during the Seattle school year (22.205.110). Both defenses have exceptions, including owner move-in and sale of a single-family home, which carry their own 90 days' notice. Every housing-cost increase needs 180 days' written notice (7.24.030), and at the end of a fixed-term lease the landlord must offer a renewal on reasonable terms 60 to 90 days before it expires unless a just cause applies (7.24.030.J).

Other requirements

Seattle regulates a great deal about renting other than the amount of rent. A landlord must give 180 days' written notice before raising rent or any other recurring housing cost, or 30 days where rent is set by the tenant's income under a subsidy (Municipal Code 7.24.030). If increases reach 10% or more within a 12-month period, the notice must include an Economic Displacement Relocation Assistance notice, and a household earning 80% or less of the area median income that moves out because of the increase can claim three times its average monthly housing costs; the landlord pays the city within 7 days and the city pays the household within 14 days (Chapter 22.212). A landlord also may not raise rent for the purpose of avoiding the city's tenant relocation assistance rules (22.210.136). A separate program pays relocation assistance to low-income tenants displaced by demolition, substantial rehabilitation, change of use, or removal of rent restrictions (Chapter 22.210). A security deposit and non-refundable move-in fees together may not exceed one month's rent, the non-refundable fees alone may not exceed 10% of the first month's rent, and a tenant may pay them in installments at no extra cost (7.24.035). Late fees are capped at $10 a month and no fee at all may be charged for serving a notice (7.24.034). Landlords must publish their screening criteria, review completed applications in the order received, and offer the unit to the first applicant who meets all of them (14.08.050), and may not apply a blanket exclusion of people with arrest or conviction records (14.09.025). A tenant may add one additional resident plus immediate family within legal occupancy limits, and the landlord may not impose extra screening on people who are not tenants (7.24.030). Since 2025 the city has also barred landlords from paying for rent-setting software that coordinates pricing across competing landlords (Chapter 7.34). Seattle also adopted a fee disclosure and fee limit law on August 18, 2026 that does not take effect until July 1, 2027, and none of the requirements above change before then (Ordinance 127497).

Notes and caveats

Citations

This page records local law. Statewide laws — deposits, notice periods, late fees, entry, evictions — live on the Washington hub, and the state-level position on local rent regulation appears there with its own citations and verification date.