How much notice must a landlord give before entering in Washington?

Verified July 8, 2026 All Washington topics →

Washington requires at least two days' written notice before a landlord enters an occupied rental for inspections, repairs, or services — dropped to one day's written notice when the entry is to show the unit to a prospective tenant or buyer — and entry must occur at reasonable times.

No notice is required in a genuine emergency or where the premises appear abandoned, tenants may not unreasonably refuse lawful entry, and landlords may not use access rights to harass; statutory penalties run in both directions for violations after written warning.

Washington entry notice at a glance

Advance notice required	2 days
Notice standard	RCW 59.18.150(6): except in emergencies or where impracticable, the landlord must give the tenant at least two days' written notice of intent to enter at reasonable times — reduced to one day's notice for entry to exhibit the unit to prospective or actual purchasers or tenants. The tenant may not unreasonably withhold consent at reasonable times, and the landlord may not abuse the right of access or use it to harass.
Permitted reasons	Inspection, necessary or agreed repairs, alterations, or improvements, supplying necessary or agreed services, or exhibiting the unit to prospective or actual purchasers, tenants, workers, or contractors — with consent, which the tenant may not unreasonably withhold (RCW 59.18.150).
Emergency exception	Yes
Time-of-day restrictions	Entry must be at reasonable times; no fixed clock hours are specified in the statute.

Notes and caveats

notice_hours is encoded as 48 because the statute says 'two days'' written notice (24 for showings) — render on-page as '2 days (1 day for showings)' rather than hours to match statutory language, mirroring the schema convention discussion in the OH record. The statute includes reciprocal penalty provisions (roughly $100 per violation after written notice) for landlord abuse of access and tenant unreasonable refusal; page copy can note these. Verified via the AG's official guidance and multiple consistent sources; the official RCW page full-text read should be logged at the next sweep for completeness.

Statute citations

RCW 59.18.150 (6) Official source

How this record was verified: Direct read of statute text on the official Washington Legislature site (app.leg.wa.gov): RCW 59.18.280 (full text, current through the 2023 c 331 amendments), RCW 59.18.610 and 59.18.253 (full text). HB 1217 (2025) rent stabilization provisions (RCW 59.18.700-.730, amended 59.18.140) verified against the Washington Attorney General's official landlord-tenant page and Know Your Responsibilities flyer and the Department of Commerce's official HB 1217 Landlord Resource Center (which publishes the annual cap). RCW 59.18.260, .270, .285, .150, and .170 confirmed across the official AG page, Seattle SDCI, and consistent legal-aid sources. IMPORTANT verification note: committee-stage bill reports of HB 1217 describe a one-month residential deposit cap and a 1.5% late-fee cap that are NOT in the enacted law for standard residential tenancies — those limits apply to manufactured/mobile-home tenancies (ch. 59.20 RCW) per the AG's post-enactment flyer; current legal-aid guidance confirms no statewide residential deposit or late-fee amount cap.