Washington Retaliation Law: What Counts & the Presumption Window (2026)

What counts as retaliation, and the window where the law presumes it

At a glance

• Protection window: 90 days
• Governing authority: RCW 59.18.240

Who this covers — and who it does not

This page covers landlord retaliation in Washington — what a landlord may not do after you exercise a protected right.

It does not cover commercial leases, or conduct outside the protected window described below.

What the law prohibits

RCW 59.18.240 — 房东不得因租客善意投诉法规违规、行使 RLTA 权利或组织/加入租客工会而报复（涨租、减服务、驱逐、增加义务）。

RCW 59.18.240 ↗

The protection window

For 90 days after a protected act, certain landlord actions are presumed retaliatory.

59.18.250：租客善意投诉/行使权利后 90 天内，房东采取涨租、减服务、驱逐或增加义务等不利行动的，推定报复，举证责任转由房东承担。但租客欠租或违反其他租约义务时，产生反向推定（房东行为非报复）。

RCW 59.18.250 ↗

Protected activities

What a landlord may not do

Burden of proof

租客先证受保护行为 + 90 天内不利行为 → 产生报复推定；房东举证合法非报复理由反驳。租客欠租时推定反转。

RCW 59.18.250 ↗

Remedies

Exemptions and limits

房东能证明其行为非报复、有独立合法理由的，不构成报复（59.18.250 反向推定）。

RCW 59.18.250 ↗

Sources and how to verify them

Every figure on this page comes from the official text or a state court opinion, not from a summary. The table below lists each provision used and the date it was last checked.

Statute	Last verified	Source
RCW 59.18.240	2026-10-16	official text ↗
RCW 59.18.250	2026-10-16	official text ↗

Where the official text and a secondary summary disagree, this page follows the official text and says so. Where a provision admits of more than one reading, that is flagged rather than smoothed over.

When you need a lawyer instead of a tool

A self-help guide is the right starting point for understanding your position. Get legal help if:

• You have received an eviction notice — the timeline is now court-driven
• The dispute involves discrimination, unsafe conditions or retaliation
• Your landlord has filed anything in court already
• You are unsure whether a local ordinance changes the state rule

Local legal aid organisations and tenant unions offer free help for qualifying cases. They are independent of this site — we list them because they are the right place to go, not because they link here.

More Washington guides

Washington Security Deposit Return · Washington Security Deposit Rules · Washington Eviction Process · Washington Rent Increase Rules · Washington Repairs & Habitability

→ All Washington tenant rights topics

Common questions