Washington security deposit return

The security deposit and any non-refundable move-in fees together may not exceed one month’s rent; the non-refundable fees alone may not exceed 10% of a month’s rent; and a pet damage deposit may not exceed 25% of the first full month’s rent. 25 months, and the ordinance supports that reading because it lists security deposits and pet security deposits as separate permitted charges. No court has decided it. Seattle also lets a tenant spread the deposit over as many as six monthly installments, where state law gives three. 038, which carries no matching exception, so on our reading it still applies.

Seattle does not change the return deadline. SMC 7.24.035.D says the return or retention of a deposit "must comply with the requirements of RCW 59.18.280", so the state’s 30 days and its penalties are the rule inside the city too. Four Seattle-only points that catch landlords: you may charge no other one-time fee at the start of a tenancy beyond the deposit, the pet deposit, non-refundable move-in fees and last month’s rent; if you charged a non-refundable cleaning fee at move-in you may not also deduct cleaning from the deposit at move-out; you may not require a pet deposit at all where the animal is an assistance animal, and you may not charge any other fee for keeping a pet; and Seattle’s installment schedule is far longer than the state’s. The Seattle remedies sit on top of the state ones and they are not small. A landlord who tries to enforce a rental-agreement term that breaches these sections is liable to the tenant for actual damages, DOUBLE any penalty the City imposed, DOUBLE any security deposit unlawfully charged or withheld, and attorney fees. Merely including a prohibited term in a new or renewed agreement costs up to $3,000 plus fees, whether or not it is ever enforced. A tenant who defeats an attempt to enforce such a term recovers their fees. Separately the City can cite a landlord $500 for a first violation and $1,000 for a later one within five years, and after repeat citations it can escalate to a daily penalty. All of these figures rise on July 1, 2027. This row reflects the code as codified through Ordinance 127423, passed April 14, 2026.

The 2023 voter initiative (TMC ch. 100) bars "move-in fees that in total exceed the first month’s rent", and defines move-in fees to include the security deposit, application and screening charges, and prepaid last month’s rent, but not a valid pet fee; so in practice the deposit plus screening plus any prepaid rent together may not exceed one month. A pet damage deposit may not exceed 25% of one month’s rent, and only the actual cost of repairing pet damage may be kept from it. Any non-refundable fee at the start of a tenancy is prohibited unless the section or state law specifically allows it. The older Rental Housing Code (TMC ch. 95) gives tenants a written-request right to pay the deposit, fees and last month’s rent in installments, six on a term of six months or longer, three on a term of three to five months, two month to month, requires Tacoma’s own move-in checklist, and bars a landlord who broke the late-fee rules from deducting late fees from the deposit. 100 once the landlord has given tenants 30 days’ written notice of the exemption. The return itself is state law.

Tacoma does not change the 30-day return: TMC 1.95.040.H sends the trust-account and receipt rules to RCW 59.18.270, TMC 1.95.040.I preserves the state-law action for sums above the deposit, and nothing in either chapter alters RCW 59.18.280. The exposure for getting the move-in side wrong is the largest of any Washington city we have read: a tenant who sues under the initiative recovers actual damages, costs and attorney fees, and the landlord "shall also be liable for penalties of not less than $500 and up to five times the monthly rent of the dwelling unit at issue, per violation" (TMC 1.100.080). The City separately fines a first breach of the deposit and installment section $500 per affected unit and later ones $1,000 (TMC 1.95.090.E.1.a). A rental agreement is void to the extent it requires a prohibited fee, the initiative’s rights cannot be waived, and any ambiguity is read in the tenant’s favour. Read from the codified Tacoma Municipal Code on eCode360, the host the City Clerk’s office now directs to; the chapter 1.100 text carries an updated date of July 28, 2026, and its latest amending ordinance is Substitute Ordinance 29086 of December 9, 2025. Two more provisions touch the deposit at the end of a tenancy. TMC 1.95.037.A.2 makes void any lease term "requiring forfeiture of all or any part of a deposit if the tenant terminates the tenancy pursuant to law and vacates before expiration of any minimum term for a month-to-month tenancy", while preserving retention for damage and for other obligations under the agreement, and TMC 1.95.037.D requires last month’s rent collected up front to be applied to the last month of the tenancy and to nothing else. On the move-in side, TMC 1.95.035.C.3.d lets a landlord conditionally approve an applicant who falls short of the income ratio by requiring "an additional security deposit" or a guarantor; the code does not say how that sits with the chapter 1.100 total, and we do not resolve it.

A pet damage deposit may not exceed 25% of one month’s rent whenever it is paid, may not be required for an assistance animal, may be paid in three monthly installments, may be kept only for damage a pet caused, and must be returned or itemised within 30 days of the end of the tenancy. Income-based subsidised housing is outside both limits, but a Section 8 voucher tenancy is not. The return of the deposit itself is state law.

Olympia does not change the 30-day state return, but it adds a second one for the pet deposit specifically: OMC 5.82.050.D requires any unused part of the pet damage deposit to be returned, or an itemised list of damages sent, "not later than 30 days from the end of the tenancy, consistent with RCW 59.18.280(1)(a)". A tenant who sues recovers actual damages, double any security deposit unlawfully charged or withheld, and attorney fees and costs (OMC 5.82.170.B); non-compliance is also a defence to an eviction and a ground to refuse or revoke the rental business licence, and each day is a separate civil infraction. Read from the codified Olympia Municipal Code on Code Publishing, the City’s codifier, which states it is current through Ordinance 7467, passed April 14, 2026; chapter 5.82 carries a "Revised 5/26" supplement mark and its latest amending ordinance is Ordinance 7446 of 2026.

Its list of permitted fees is closed: any mandatory or optional fee not named in the section or in RCW ch. 18 is an unfair or excessive fee and prohibited, which rules out a non-refundable move-in fee. A one-time or recurring pet fee may not exceed 2% of the monthly rent, and may not be charged at all where a pet deposit was taken. Income-based subsidised housing is outside the deposit cap. Bellingham does not touch the return: deadline, statement, documentation and interest are state law, and the code says state law governs on any conflict.

Bellingham’s remedy is the sharpest of the Washington cities we have read: a landlord in violation is liable in a private action for three times the tenant’s actual damages or $2,000, whichever is greater, plus double any deposit unlawfully charged or withheld, plus costs and attorney fees. The chapter took effect on August 1, 2025, so most guidance written before then does not mention it. Read from the codified Bellingham Municipal Code, which states it is current through Ordinance 2026-06-015, passed June 1, 2026, and checked against the enacted ordinance on the City’s meeting portal. One trap for anyone citing from that ordinance PDF: it numbers the subsections 1, 2, 3 where the code letters them A, B, C, so the deposit cap is 6.16.030(2) in the ordinance and 6.16.030(B) in the code.

Income-based subsidised housing is outside the cap, but a Section 8 voucher tenancy is not. The chapter reaches manufactured and mobile home lot tenancies as well as ordinary rentals, sits on top of state law rather than replacing it, and does not touch the return: deadline, statement, documentation and interest are RCW ch. 18.

A lease term that breaks the cap is void, and the cap and installment right cannot be waived except by a separate written agreement outside the standard lease that the tenant’s own attorney has approved in writing. A landlord found in violation is liable to the tenant for the greater of double the tenant’s economic and non-economic damages or three times the monthly rent, plus litigation costs and attorney fees. Read from the codified Redmond Municipal Code, which states it is current through Ordinance 3265, passed July 21, 2026, and checked against the enacting ordinance in the City Council packet: Ordinance 3091, passed July 19, 2022. The chapter takes its definitions from RCW 59.18.030 and neither defines "move-in fees" nor names last month’s rent, so whether prepaid last month’s rent counts toward the cap is not something the code answers; we do not borrow Tacoma’s or Burien’s definition to answer it.

Income-based subsidised housing is outside the cap, but a Section 8 voucher tenancy is not. The chapter also reaches manufactured and mobile home lot tenancies. It does not touch the return: deadline, statement, documentation and interest are state law.

A lease term charging more than the cap is void, the cap and installment right can be waived only by a separate written agreement outside the standard lease, and a landlord in violation is liable to the tenant for the greater of double the tenant’s economic and non-economic damages or three times the monthly rent, plus litigation costs and attorney fees; a violation is also a defence to an eviction. Read from the codified Kenmore Municipal Code on eCode360, the host the City’s own code link resolves to, which states it includes legislation through December 8, 2025; the six ordinances adopted since and not yet codified are all zoning and property matters and none touches this chapter. The chapter takes its definitions from RCW 59.18.030 and neither defines "move-in fees" nor names last month’s rent, so whether prepaid last month’s rent counts toward the cap is not something the code answers; we do not borrow Tacoma’s or Burien’s definition to answer it.

One caution: the section opens by allowing any non-rent charge "agreed to in writing signed by landlord and tenant at the time of entering into the initial lease or rental agreement", and read literally that exception could reach the cap itself; the code does not say whether it does, so we publish the cap as written and flag the exception rather than resolve it. On written request the tenant may pay the deposit, non-refundable move-in fees and last month’s rent in three monthly installments on a term of three months or longer, or two on a month-to-month or two-month tenancy, with no fee or interest for doing so. Auburn also restates the state rule that no deposit may be collected without a written agreement and a signed move-in checklist. The return of the deposit is state law.

Auburn does not change the 30-day return: ACC 5.23.040.H sends the trust-account and receipt rules to RCW 59.18.270, 5.23.040.I preserves the state-law action for sums above the deposit, and nothing in the chapter alters RCW 59.18.280. A tenant who misses an agreed installment is in breach, faces a 14-day notice, and the whole outstanding balance falls due with the next rent unless you agree otherwise in writing; a defaulted installment may be treated as rent owing. The screening-report cost cannot be paid in installments and is limited to its standard and actual cost. Breaking the chapter exposes a landlord to civil liability of up to two times the monthly rent, and a willful violation draws a $1,000 City penalty. Read from the codified Auburn City Code, which states it is current through Ordinance 7023, passed July 6, 2026; the chapter was enacted by Ordinance 6786 in 2020.

Burien also restates the state rule that no deposit may be collected without a written agreement and a signed move-in checklist, and enforces it with its own fines. Income-based subsidised housing is outside the cap, but a Section 8 voucher tenancy is not. The return of the deposit is state law.

Burien does not change the 30-day return: BMC 5.63.040(7) sends the trust account and receipt rules to RCW 59.18.270, 5.63.040(8) preserves the state-law action for sums above the deposit, and nothing in the chapter alters RCW 59.18.280. A tenant who misses an agreed installment is in breach, faces a 10-day notice, and the whole outstanding balance falls due with the next rent unless you agree otherwise in writing. The screening-report cost cannot be paid in installments and is limited to its standard and actual cost. Breaking the deposit and installment section costs $500 per affected unit for a first violation and $1,000 per unit for a later one within three years. Read from the codified Burien Municipal Code on Code Publishing, the City’s codifier, which states it is current through Ordinance 905 and legislation passed through July 27, 2026.