What happens if a tenant breaks a lease in Washington?
In Washington, a landlord who learns that a tenant has defaulted on rent and abandoned the unit must make a reasonable effort to mitigate the resulting damages. A month-to-month tenant owes rent for the 30 days after the landlord learns of the abandonment or after the next regular rent payment would have been due, whichever comes first. A tenant with a longer term owes the lesser of the entire rent for the rest of the term, or the rent accrued during the period reasonably necessary to re-rent at a fair rental plus the rent difference, the landlord’s actual re-renting costs, statutory court costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees. Separately, federal law lets a servicemember end a lease early after receiving qualifying military orders. This is RCW 59.18.310.
| What | Washington |
|---|---|
| Landlord’s duty to re-rent | Required by statute |
| What it means | The landlord must make reasonable efforts to re-rent |
Source
RCW 59.18.310
Read the statute in the Revised Code of Washington (Washington State Legislature): app.leg.wa.gov.
Checked against the statute on November 13, 2026.
This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.
How Seayora uses this rule
Seayora keeps every lease’s term, rent and signers in one record and dates every change to it. This page states the state’s rule so a lease’s own early-termination and sublet clauses can be checked against it before the lease is signed.
Guides on this rule
- Breaking a Lease by State: What the Tenant Owes — What a tenant owes after leaving a lease early, and the 34 states whose statutes say whether the landlord must try to re-rent the home.
Compare this rule in every state
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The same question in other states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas