How to Evict a Roommate in Washington (and Other Household Situations)
What Washington law says about roommates who are not on the lease, guests who won't leave, family members, renting a room in your own home, and tenancies at will — each with the statute or official source.
Short answer: A tenant is any person entitled to occupy a dwelling unit primarily for living purposes under a rental agreement, and 'landlord' includes a sublessor. A roommate not on the lease is a tenant only under their own rental agreement with the landlord or with a tenant acting as sublessor. If the tenant permanently moves out, the landlord may serve the remaining occupants who lived with the tenant a notice requiring them to apply to become a party to the rental agreement or vacate within 30 days of service. RCW 59.18.030(18), (33), (39); RCW 59.18.650(3)
| Roommate not on the lease | A tenant is any person entitled to occupy a dwelling unit primarily for living purposes under a rental agreement, and 'landlord' includes a sublessor. A roommate not on the lease is a tenant only under their own rental agreement with the landlord or with a tenant acting as sublessor. If the tenant permanently moves out, the landlord may serve the remaining occupants who lived with the tenant a notice requiring them to apply to become a party to the rental agreement or vacate within 30 days of service. The 30-day apply-or-vacate rule does not apply to subsidized housing. Just-cause rules: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18.650. |
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| Removing a roommate or subtenant | Washington requires a listed 'just cause' to end most residential tenancies, and a sublessor counts as a landlord. One listed cause applies to shared housing: where an owner or lessor shares the dwelling unit, or access to a common kitchen or bathroom, with the tenant, the owner or lessor may end the tenancy with at least 20 days' notice before the end of the rental term or period. |
| Guests who won't leave | No statute sets when a guest becomes a tenant; tenant status depends on a rental agreement. Outside the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, a person who enters into possession of property without the owner's consent is only a tenant by sufferance, owes reasonable rent for the time occupied, and must give up possession on demand by the person entitled to possession. Chapter 59.04 RCW does not apply to rental agreements covered by chapter 59.18 RCW (RCW 59.04.900). Source: RCW 59.18.030(39); RCW 59.04.050 |
| Renting a room in your own home (lodgers) | No separate lodger exclusion: Washington's Residential Landlord-Tenant Act does not exclude renting a room in an owner's home. Instead, where an owner or lessor shares the unit or a common kitchen or bathroom with the tenant, that is a just cause to end the tenancy with at least 20 days' notice before the end of the rental term or period. Just-cause section: https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=59.18.650. |
| Tenancy at will | Washington's general tenancy chapter does not use the term 'tenancy at will'. Premises rented for an indefinite time with monthly or other periodic rent are a month-to-month (period-to-period) tenancy, ended by written notice of 30 days or more before the end of a period. A person who takes possession without the owner's consent is a tenant by sufferance whose right to stay ends on demand. These rules do not apply to residential tenancies covered by chapter 59.18 RCW, which has its own termination and just-cause rules (RCW 59.18.650). Source: RCW 59.04.020, 59.04.050 |
| Hotel and extended-stay guests | Residence in a hotel, motel, or other transient lodging whose operation is defined in RCW 19.48.010 is excluded from the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, unless the arrangement was set up mainly to avoid the Act. The statute does not set a length of stay. Source: RCW 59.18.040(4) |
Never remove someone by changing the locks or taking their belongings: if the person has become a tenant, only a court can order them out. If there is violence or a threat, call 911 and ask about a protective order.
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Washington eviction laws · Free legal help in Washington · Roommate rules in other states
General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.