Washington Law Imposes Rent Caps: Effective Immediately
Revisions to the Washington Residential Landlord Tenant Act that passed during the 2025 Legislative session took effect on May 7 when the Governor signed the new legislation. With the change in law, several very important details have changed when it comes to residential landlords increasing rent.
Based on revisions to the Washington Residential Landlord Tenant Act, Washington’s residential landlords may increase rent no more than the lesser of 10% or 7% plus CPI "Consumer Price Index" which is an amount that will be published by the Washington State Department of Commerce each year, on June 1. In most years, the rate published on June 1 will be the CPI rate used in the calculation of rent caps for the following 12 months. However, for the balance of 2025, the CPI rate has been established at 3.3% making 10% the cap on rental increases between now and December 31, 2025. The Department of Commerce will publish the annual CPI rate on a page dedicated to that purpose, accessible through the agency’s website.
Several categories of residential tenancies are exempt from the rent cap. Units that are less than 12 years old are exempt. For the purposes of this calculation, the age of a unit is determined by the date on which the certificate of occupancy was issued. This means, for example, that if a certificate of occupancy was issued for a residential unit in November 2020, the unit would be exempt from the rent cap until November 2032. New construction will be free of the rent caps for 12 years. There is also an exemption for units where the tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen with the landlord and for owner occupied duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. Finally, the rent cap is inapplicable to tenancies in up to two units associated with a single-family residence. This could include two bedrooms in a single-family residence or two ADU’s (Auxiliary Dwelling Units) or detached ADUs.
If rental rates are increased, a landlord MUST use a statutorily required notice form to notify the tenant that rents will increase. The form of notice can be found in HB 1217, Sec. 103, subsection 3, the bill that was recently signed into law. If the required form of notice is not used, the increase in rents is ineffective and landlord will have to start the process of giving notice all over again, using the correct form. It is important to note that all residential landlords must use the statutorily required form to increase rents, including landlords with tenancies that are exempt from the rent cap restrictions.
Effective immediately, a landlord must give at least 90 days notice of an increase in rents, based on state law. There is no remaining option for a landlord to give only 60 days notice of a rent increase. It is possible that a local jurisdiction may require even more than 90 days notice for a rent increase. Property managers and landlords must be familiar with the local jurisdiction's requirements for any property they manage.
Finally, notices of rent increase must now be delivered in the same way that a notice to pay rent or vacate has always been delivered. The landlord or landlord's agent must attempt personal delivery of the notice of rent increase by knocking on the door of the residence and attempting to hand deliver the notice of rent increase to the tenant. If hand delivery, personally to the tenant, is achieved, then no further delivery effort is required. Landlord or landlord's agent should document their file, however, with information substantiating the personal delivery to include the time and date of delivery and a description of the person or other evidence to demonstrate delivery to the actual tenant. If the tenant is not home, then landlord or landlord's agent may deliver the notice to a person of suitable age who answers the door or post the notice by taping it to the front door of the residence. If the notice is not delivered directly to the tenant, then landlord must also mail the notice to the tenant at their known address. Between now and July 26, 2025, mailing the notice is accomplished by placing the stamped envelope containing the notice in regular US mail. After July 26, 2025, the mailed notice must be sent by certified mail. Again, landlord or landlord's agent should document their file with evidence demonstrating whether the notice was delivered to a person other than tenant or posted on the door as well as evidence of the required mailing.
The changes to the Residential Landlord Tenant Act are substantial and carry enormous impact to anyone who is a landlord or a landlord's agent. Brokers who are or who represent landlords must become familiar with all of the sweeping changes to the law that regulates Washington landlords.