What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in Washington?

In Washington, when a tenant who is behind on rent abandons the tenancy, the landlord may store the tenant’s property in a reasonably secure place and must mail the tenant a notice of where it is stored and the date of sale or disposal, and may sell or dispose of it 45 days after the notice is mailed or personally delivered, or after 7 days if the property is worth $250 or less in total (except personal papers, family pictures and keepsakes). The landlord must return the property if the tenant makes a written request before it is sold or disposed of and pays the actual or reasonable drayage and storage costs, whichever is less. Sale income may be applied to money due the landlord, and any excess must be held for the tenant for one year from the date of sale, after which it becomes the landlord’s. After a writ of restitution is executed, the landlord must store the property if the tenant serves a written request no later than three days after service of the writ; otherwise the landlord may store it or place it on the nearest public property unless the tenant objects. Stored property worth over $250 may be sold 30 days after a notice of sale is mailed or personally delivered to the tenant’s last known address, and property worth $250 or less may be sold or disposed of seven days after notice; excess sale proceeds are held for the tenant for one year and then deposited with the department of revenue as abandoned property. Neither section applies to the property of a deceased tenant who was the sole occupant. This is RCW 59.18.310; RCW 59.18.312.

WhatWashington
Belongings left behindMail notice, then hold 45 days (7 if $250 or less)
What the statute requires firstNotice, a waiting period or storage before disposal

What the statute says

“After forty-five days from the date the notice of such sale or disposal is mailed or personally delivered to the tenant, the landlord may sell or dispose of such property, including personal papers, family pictures, and keepsakes.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

RCW 59.18.310; RCW 59.18.312

Read the statute in the Revised Code of Washington (Washington State Legislature): app.leg.wa.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 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 a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.

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