Washington State Eviction Process: A Landlord’s Guide (2025)

What Laws Govern Evictions in Washington State?

Evictions in Washington State are governed by state law as well as local ordinances. It’s important for landlords to be familiar with these laws and ordinances to ensure they’re following the legal requirements of eviction in the state.

We’ve had experience helping our clients with evictions in the past and have learned the key laws and regulations that all landlords must be aware of.

Washington State Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RCW 59.18) is the state law governs the rights and responsibilities of landlords and tenants in Washington State, including the eviction process. This law is what dictates everything from why a tenant can be evicted to the process that must be followed to legally evict in Washington State. Let’s take a deeper look at the essential elements of RCW 59.18

Reasons to Evict (59.18.650)

You cannot simply evict someone in Washington State simply because you feel like it. Instead, you need to ensure that your tenant meets the specific requirements laid out in RCW 59.18.650.

• Non-payment of rent: The reason we see most often for eviction is failure to pay rent. As a landlord, you are able to initiate the eviction process if a tenant has not paid their rent.
• Violation of the lease agreement: If a tenant violates other terms of the lease (damaging property, engaging in illegal activity, etc.), the landlord can start the eviction process.
• Non-renewal of lease after rental period ends: Landlords are not allowed to evict without good cause—as long as a tenant follows the rules, they’re allowed to stay until their rental period ends. But, tenants can be evicted if they stay in the property even one day after their written lease ends if they’ve not signed a renewal.

Notice Requirements

Landlords are required to give tenants notice as the first step in the eviction process. The purpose of serving a notice is to give tenants an opportunity to remedy the situation, protect the rights of tenants, and ensure that the eviction process is fair and transparent.

Each reason to evict comes with different notice requirements:

• Pay or Vacate Notice: For nonpayment of rent, a landlord is required to give the tenants a 14-day notice to pay or vacate before beginning the eviction process.
• Cure of Vacate Notice: For lease violations, a landlord must give the tenant 10 days to correct the issue or they’ll be required to vacate the property.
• End of Lease Term or No Lease: For month-to-month leases or at the end of a fixed-term lease, landlords must provide a 20-day notice to terminate the tenancy.
• Unconditional Notice to Quit: If a tenant causes significant disturbances or conducts illegal activities, landlords can provide a 3-day notice to proceed with a timely eviction.

Protections for Tenants

There are additional laws and regulations in place aimed at protecting tenants. There are retaliation protections that state landlords cannot evict a tenant as a retaliation for complaining about housing conditions, joining a tenants’ union, or exercising other legal rights. There are also discrimination laws in place so that evictions cannot be based on discriminatory reasons related to race, gender, disability, familial status, and more. Discriminatory evictions are a violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and Washington State fair housing laws.

Key Steps in the Washington State Eviction Process

Under RCW 59.18, landlords must follow the proper eviction process in Washington State. And while it may seem like a time-consuming, potentially costly process, failure to follow these steps can result in losing your eviction action. Because of this, we recommend working with an experienced landlord attorney who can walk you through the process.

1. Serving Proper Notice

The first step in the eviction process is serving the proper notice to your tenant. We outlined the different notices above, but here’s a quick reminder:

• 14-day Pay or Vacate Notice (for nonpayment of rent)
• 10-day Cure of Vacate Notice (for lease violations)
• 20-day End of Lease Term or No Lease
• 3-day Unconditional Notice to Quit (for illegal activity or disturbances)

To properly serve notice, it must be physically posted on the property and sent via certified mail with a requested return receipt. This ensures you, as a landlord, have done everything possible to inform your tenant of the notice.

2. Filing the Complaint

If the time stated on the notice has passed and the tenant has not cured the breach, the landlord can file an unlawful detainer complaint in the Washington Superior Court of the county in which the property is located. There is a court filing fee that is dependent on which county your property is located but they typically start at $50—in King County (Seattle area) the cost is $85 whereas in Pierce County (Tacoma area) the cost is $197.

The unlawful detainer complaint will include:

• The facts surrounding why the landlord is trying to evict.
• A description of the property.
• Any fraud, force, or violence committed by the tenant.
• Any damages or compensation the landlord is trying to claim
• The amount of the tenant’s unpaid rent (if applicable).

3. Court Serves Tenant a Summons

After the landlord files a claim, the court issues a summons that requires the tenant’s presence at a court hearing. The summons has to be served to the tenant by the sheriff of the county, the sheriff’s deputy, or another person who is not part of the case and is over 18 years of age. It needs to be served at least five days before the return date listed, and returnable by the server between seven and 30 days from the date of service. The cost to have a sheriff serve the summons is $10 plus additional costs to cover mileage.

4. Tenant’s Answer or Default Judgement

When the summon has been served to the tenant, the tenant is required to file a “defendant’s defense” which is more often referred to as an answer. In Washington, tenants must serve a copy of their answer within 20 days of receiving the summons. If they do not, the judge may grant the landlord a default judgement.

5. The Show Cause Hearing

If the tenant files an answer and the process moves forward, the next step is the show cause hearing, also known as the eviction hearing.

The landlord should come prepared with copies of the lease agreement, eviction notice and proof of service, the complaint, and any evidence of lease violations. The landlord and tenant will be given an opportunity to present their cases and any evidence to the judge who will issue their judgment.

If the judge rules in the landlord’s favor, the judgement will be entered for the landlord’s repossession of the property. If the judge rules in the tenant’s favor, they cannot be evicted immediately. The landlord may be required to pay damages—court costs, attorney fees, etc.—and may be held accountable for violating the tenant’s rights. They are able to appeal the decision and they must file the appeal within 30 days of the judgement.

6. Issuance of the Writ of Restitution

When the judgement is in favor of the landlord, the next step is the Writ of Restitution—a legal order issued by the court that allows the landlord to regain possession of their real property. The sheriff is required to serve a copy to the tenant and there is an additional service fee of $40 plus $30 for each hour after the first hour if the writ is served with aid of the county. If the writ is served without aid of the county, the fee is $25 plus mileage.

For evictions based on nonpayment, the tenant is given five days to move out. During this time, they can pay their rent and all other amounts owed to reverse the judgement and avoid eviction. For all other evictions, the tenant gets three days to move out. During the three or five day period, the tenant can choose to appeal the judgement.

7. Sheriff Removes Tenant

In the worst-case scenario that we all hope to avoid, the sheriff will return to forcibly remove the tenant after the three or five day period if they have not vacated the property. The fee for execution of the writ is $30 per hour, plus mileage.

How Much Does it Cost to Evict a Tenant in Washington State?

As you can see, there are quite a few fees associated with the eviction process. And while many are dependent on several factors, it’s still important to have a ballpark estimate of what an eviction would cost you as a landlord in Washington State.

So let’s breakdown the numbers:

As you can see, there are a variety of fees that come into play during the eviction process in Washington State. We always recommend that our clients factor in these potential costs when making decisions about how to handle tenant issues.

Take the Stress Out of the Eviction Process

The eviction process can be stressful and time consuming. But having a professional property management company in your corner can ensure you have the assistance and expertise you need to navigate the process easily. With over 15 years of industry leading processes, our team at SJA Property Management can help you manage every aspect of your rental property, from finding the right tenants to avoid evictions to processing the eviction if ever needed.

Give us a call today to see how we can give you a smooth and easy rental property management solution.