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Subletting Laws in Washington

Washington law doesn’t address the subletting process, which means landlords and tenants should look to the lease instead.


Since Washington has no explicit laws regarding subletting, the terms of each individual lease apply. Landlords can choose to allow or deny subletters—but if they do reject a potential candidate, they must have a business-related reason. One thing that state law does regulate is that tenants, and tenants alone, can evict their subtenants.

A tenant’s right to sublet in Washington depends on the lease

Washington State law doesn’t directly address tenants’ right to sublet. Instead, a tenant should look to the terms of their lease agreement to figure out if they’re allowed to sublet. The lease may include a clause either allowing or forbidding sublets. (Many leases are more conditional and allow subletting only if the tenant has gotten the green light from their landlord first.) If the lease doesn’t mention sublets at all, it’s assumed they’re allowed.

While landlords are allowed to completely prohibit subletting in a lease, Washington judges typically interpret those types of clauses very literally. So if a clause states that subletting the entire property isn’t allowed, that wouldn’t prevent a tenant from legally subletting just one room in the unit.1

Landlords can only reject potential subletters for certain reasons

Even in cases where it’s not absolutely required by the lease, it’s generally a good idea for tenants who want to sublet their unit to get written permission from their landlord. However, Washington law doesn’t lay out a formal process for sublease approval. It’s recommended that tenants lay out the details of their proposed sublet (such as the start and end dates and the subletter’s name) in a letter or email to their landlord. They should also be prepared to offer evidence of the subletter’s ability to pay rent, such as pay stubs or a credit check.

At that point, the landlords can choose to approve or deny the potential subletter. However, according to Washington courts, landlords can’t reject candidates for just any reason (or no reason at all). If the landlord denies them, they can only do so “reasonably.” In a recent court case, a landlord was found to be reasonable in denying a commercial subtenant because of concerns about their financial stability and their business reputation.2 It follows that an acceptable reason to reject a potential subletter generally must be commercial in nature—something that threatens the landlord’s business in some way, such as bad credit or a history of evictions.

If the landlord doesn’t respond at all, there’s an assumption that the sublease is allowed.

Only tenants can evict subtenants in Washington

One issue that Washington law does address directly is evicting a subletter.3 It’s a long-held rule in the state that landlords can’t evict subtenants, since the subtenant has a direct relationship with the tenant, not the landlord.4 A tenant can evict a subtenant for:

  • Not paying rent
  • Remaining in the unit after the sublease end date (also known as “holding over”)
  • Violating the terms of the lease
  • Creating a nuisance, like drug-related activity

Tenants can evict their subtenants whether their sublease agreement is written or verbal. However, it’s often more difficult to make a claim for eviction with an oral sublease since the case often devolves into a “he said, she said” situation.

A tenant must give their subtenant anywhere from three to 14 days’ notice before beginning eviction proceedings. The process is the same as the one a landlord would go through to evict a regular tenant.

Tenants are still responsible for the terms of their original lease during a sublet

During a sublet, the original tenant is still on the hook for rent (and any other terms of the original lease). If a subtenant stops paying rent to the tenant, the tenant has no legal excuse to stop paying the landlord. If they do, the landlord can sue the tenant for unpaid rent or for eviction.

It’s recommended that tenants and subtenants both sign a clearly-written sublease agreement. Tenants can sue or evict a subtenant if they breach the agreement—by not paying rent, for example, or committing crimes on the property.


[1] Cuschner v. Westlake (1906)

[2] Northwest Alloys Inc. v. Department of Natural Resources (2019)

[3] RCW 59.12.030

[4] Subway Real Estate v. Wilson (2019)

The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.