| Tenant Protected Actions |
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| Landlord Retaliatory Actions |
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| Penalties for Retaliation |
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When Is It Illegal for Landlords to Retaliate in Washington?
It’s illegal for Washington landlords to retaliate with raised rent, increased tenant obligations, reduced services, or eviction against tenants who have taken one of the following protected actions in the past 90 days:
- Complaints to the government about health and safety violations on the rental property.
- Attempts to enforce lawful rights given under the law or the lease (for example, giving proper written notice to the landlord about required repairs under Washington’s landlord-tenant act).
The law allows an exception when the landlord can prove a non-retaliatory, good-faith reason for the alleged retaliatory action. For example, a landlord who raises rent proportionately in response to a large increase in property tax is not retaliating, even if a tenant has recently complained about maintenance.
What Can Tenants Do in Response in Washington?
Washington tenants can respond to landlord retaliation by suing for quiet enjoyment of the property. The tenant might ask a court for an injunction, lease cancellation, or monetary damages related to the costs of the retaliation. In whatever case, the tenant can recover costs for administration and legal representation.
Sources
- 1 Rev. Code Wa. § 59.18.240(1) (2022)
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“So long as the tenant is in compliance with this chapter, the landlord shall not take or threaten to take reprisals or retaliatory action against the tenant because of any good faith and lawful complaints or reports by the tenant to a governmental authority concerning the failure of the landlord to substantially comply with any code, statute, ordinance, or regulation governing the maintenance or operation of the premises, if such condition may endanger or impair the health or safety of the tenant.”
Source Link - 2 Rev. Code Wa. § 59.18.240(2) (2022)
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“So long as the tenant is in compliance with this chapter, the landlord shall not take or threaten to take reprisals or retaliatory action against the tenant because of any good faith and lawful assertions or enforcement by the tenant of his or her rights and remedies under this chapter. ‘Reprisal or retaliatory action’ shall mean and include but not be limited to any of the following actions by the landlord when such actions are intended primarily to retaliate against a tenant because of the tenant’s good faith and lawful act: (a) Eviction of the tenant; (b) Increasing the rent required of the tenant; (c) Reduction of services to the tenant; and (d) Increasing the obligations of the tenant.”
Source Link - 3 Rev. Code Wa. § 59.18.250 (2022)
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“Initiation by the landlord of any action listed in RCW 59.18.240 [landlord retaliation statute] within ninety days after a good faith and lawful act by the tenant as enumerated in RCW 59.18.240, or within ninety days after any inspection or proceeding of a governmental agency resulting from such act, shall create a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof, that the action is a reprisal or retaliatory action against the tenant:
“PROVIDED, That if at the time the landlord gives notice of termination of tenancy pursuant to chapter 59.12 RCW the tenant is in arrears in rent or in breach of any other lease or rental obligation, there is a rebuttable presumption affecting the burden of proof that the landlord’s action is neither a reprisal nor retaliatory action against the tenant:
“PROVIDED FURTHER, That if the court finds that the tenant made a complaint or report to a governmental authority within ninety days after notice of a proposed increase in rent or other action in good faith by the landlord, there is a rebuttable presumption that the complaint or report was not made in good faith:“PROVIDED FURTHER, That no presumption against the landlord shall arise under this section, with respect to an increase in rent, if the landlord, in a notice to the tenant of increase in rent, specifies reasonable grounds for said increase, which grounds may include a substantial increase in market value due to remedial action under this chapter:
Source Link
“PROVIDED FURTHER, That the presumption of retaliation, with respect to an eviction, may be rebutted by evidence that it is not practical to make necessary repairs while the tenant remains in occupancy…” - 4 Rev. Code Wa. § 59.18.160(9) (2022)
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When it comes to remedies, the remedies of monetary damages and injunction (including “recission,” or cancellation of the rental agreement) are available at common law for contractual issues such as the breach of a lease, as a supplement to the costs and fees provision given for landlord retaliation under section 59.18.250.
“Nothing in this section is intended to (a) abrogate or modify in any way any common law right or privilege or (b) affect the common law as it relates to a local municipality’s right of entry under emergency or exigent circumstances.”
Source Link - 5 Rev. Code Wa. § 59.18.250 (2022)
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“…In any action or eviction proceeding where the tenant prevails upon his or her claim or defense that the landlord has violated this section, the tenant shall be entitled to recover his or her costs of suit or arbitration, including a reasonable attorney’s fee, and where the landlord prevails upon his or her claim he or she shall be entitled to recover his or her costs of suit or arbitration, including a reasonable attorney’s fee:
“PROVIDED FURTHER, That neither party may recover attorney’s fees to the extent that their legal services are provided at no cost to them.”
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