Tacoma Municipal Code: Landlord Checklists

Rent Increases, step by step. This one is tricky.

Step 1: Geography test. Is your property within the city limits of Tacoma? This is key, because
if you’re lucky enough to own rental property in University Place or Spanaway or anywhere else
in Pierce County outside the Tacoma City Limits, you’re golden—these rules don’t apply. Note
that there are some addresses on the south end, for example, Parkland, that the Post Office codes
as “Tacoma” for delivery, but they are outside the city limits. The best way to be sure is to go to
the Tacoma City website and check the map.
Is the rental within Tacoma city limits?
□ Yes – go to Step 2.
□ No—Tacoma Municipal Code does not apply. Check your local municipality or county for
rent increase prohibitions. If none, you can raise the rent in accord with the RCW 59.18.140:
90 days written notice + no rent increase allowed during the term of the lease.

Step 2: Habitability Prohibitions
Step 2A: Prohibitions due to code violations: Do you as a landlord have any reported
health/safety code violations for any of your rental properties within the city limits?
□ No – you can go to Step 2B.
□ Yes – were you determined to be in violation of the TMC’s tenant protection laws related to
health and safety per TMC 2.01.050?
□ Yes – you can’t issue a rent increase until you correct the violations and pay the fines
per TMC 2.01.050(F)(4).
□ No – you can go to Step 2B.

Step 2B: Prohibitions due to uninhabitability: Has your tenant made a request for repairs in
writing to correct some defect that makes the unit uninhabitable and which you have not
resolved? (A list of specific defects/conditions that fall under this rule can be found in RCW
59.18.060).
□ No – you can go to Step 3
□ Yes – You have to resolve the issue and provide written notice to the tenant and the city
before you raise the rent.

Step 3: Issue Notices of Rent Increase
Step 3A: Pick a date and amount for the rent increase. You cannot increase the rent during
the term of the lease per RCW 59.18.140. You can issue a notice of increase during the lease
term, but your date to put the rent increase into effect must be after the lease term is up. If your
tenant is on a month-to-month lease, you can increase the rent after proper notices are given.
Either way, pick a date at least 180 days out, because that is the minimum required time to issue
the rent-increase notice in Tacoma. As to amount of rent increase, just be aware that you may be
liable to pay relocation assistance depending on the percentage of rent increase (see next
section).
Step 3B: Business license. Do you have a current City of Tacoma business license for the
property?
No – Get one before you issue a notice of rent increase.
Yes – Go to Step 3C.
Step 3C: Serve Notice. Give the tenant a written notice of rent increase at least 180 days before
the increase is due to take effect.
□ Does your notice state the percentage of rent increase?
□ Does your notice state the dollar amount of the new rent?
□ Does your notice state the date on which the rent increase becomes effective?
□ Was your notice served on the tenant 180 days before such date?
□ Did you include the Tacoma resource summary sheets for rent increases along with the
notice?
□ Did you serve the tenant the notice either by personal service or by posting and mailing, in
accordance with RCW 59.12.040? (See post on how to serve notices and how to prepare an
affidavit).
No – Serve the notice again on the tenant correctly as long as you are still within the 90-
day time frame.
Yes – Write up an affidavit of service and put it in your file.

Tacoma Municipal Code mandates that if you increase the rent by more than five percent, and the
tenant decides to relocate rather than pay the higher rent, then the tenant can request and the
landlord must pay relocation assistance. Here is a checklist to help you sort out these
complicated regulations.
First, note the exceptions in TMC 1.100.050(5). If one of these applies to you, you don’t have to
pay relocation assistance:
□ The property has fewer than four dwelling units, and landlord lives in one of the units on site.
□ Tenants have lived in the dwelling unit for less than six months
□ Landlord is active-duty military and is renting out landlords’ personal residence while
deployed.
Second, here are the requirements:
□ After receiving the notice of rent increase, if the tenant decides to relocate, the tenant can
send a request for relocation assistance. The statute does not specify how this request is
made, but the presumption is that it has to be in writing. A text or an email would probably
constitute a writing. However, since all these rules are construed in the tenant’s favor, TMC
1.100.100(5), probably any kind of request, even oral, will do.
□ After receiving the request, the landlord has 30 days to send the relocation assistance.
Though the TMC does not require this, a landlord needs to get some kind of proof of
payment, whether it be a cancelled check or a written receipt from the tenant.
Third, the amount of relocation money that the landlord has to pay is determined by the
percentage of rent increase. The obligation to give relocation money is predicated on a rent
increase of five percent or more. If your increase is less than a five percent increase in monthly
rent, you don’t have to provide relocation assistance. Here is a chart of the amounts, as set forth
in TMC 1.100.050(2):
Percentage rent increase Relocation Payment
Less than 5 % None required
Over 5% to 7.5% 2 months’ rent
Over 7.5% to 10% 2.5 months’ rent
Over 10% 3 months’ rent

Fourth, after you pay the tenant, the landlord “shall provide copies of the request for relocation
assistance and confirmation of payment to the Landlord-Tenant Coordinator or other city
designated official.” TMC 1.100.050(3).

School year evictions if any resident of the unit is a child or student, a person having legal
custody of a student or child, an educator. Note that TMC 1.100.090’s definition of
“educator” is extremely broad.
□ Cold weather evictions: November 15 through March 15. Does not apply if landlord owns
four or fewer rental units in City of Tacoma. TMC 1.100.063.
□ TMC 1.100.065 does list some exceptions that allow a landlord to evict in spite of these
prohibitions, e.g., tenant sexually harasses other tenants, roommates with landlord, drug
related activity, etc.
□ Do you fall within one of the exceptions set forth in TMC 1.100.063 – .065 such that the
eviction moratorium does not apply?
o Notice for waste, owner intent to occupy, owner selling unit, condemnation,
roommate exception, sexual harassment?
o Owner owns four or fewer rental housing units in the City of Tacoma?
o Owner seeks to terminate occupancy of ADU when owner resides on same lot?

For Tacoma properties, here is what you need to provide at the time of the rental application:
□ the landlord’s written rental criteria;
□ information on a tenant’s right to pay security deposits, non-refundable move-in fees and
last month’s rent in installments;
□ a City of Tacoma informational website address designated by the City for the purpose of
providing information about the property and its landlord (paper copies if tenant cannot
access the internet);
□ website address for the Washington Secretary of State for the purpose of providing
information on how to register to vote or change their address, if the individual is already
registered to vote.
□ City information packet prepared by the Director of the City of Tacoma, Office of Equity
and Human Rights;
□ Obtain tenant’s signature documenting receipt of the above information.
Tenant screening—Here’s what a landlord can and cannot do per TMC 1.95.035.
□ You can’t deny an application because the applicant gets a housing subsidy or rent
voucher. RCW 59.18.255 prohibits that.
□ You can’t require social security number. (You can ask for it, but not require it).
□ No blanket ban based on criminal history, but there are certain crimes that permit a
landlord to deny tenancy; there are other elements of criminal history that you cannot use
to deny. See TMC 1.95.035(B)(3).
□ Proof of income by pay stubs or other documentation (e.g., housing vouchers from
private charities, government assistance). The amount of income depends on TMC’s
income-to-rent ratio
□ If the rent is below HUD fair market value rent for Tacoma, you can require proof
of income up the 3 times the monthly rent.
□ If rent is at or above HUD FMV, you can require proof of income up to 2.5 times
the monthly rent.
□ Housing subsidies must be deducted when calculating the rent/income ratio.
□ You can require or accept a guarantor and request proof of the guarantor’s income.

Prohibited clauses in leases. TMC 1.95.037
□ On month-to-month lease, you cannot have a penalty fee of any sort (including
retaining the security deposit) if tenant terminates before a certain period is up.
Remember, RCW 59.18.650 allows a tenant to terminate a month-to-month lease on
20 days’ notice. A landlord cannot require more notice than that.
□ A requirement to pay by electronic transfer.
□ Banning dogs based on breed, unless landlord’s insurance requires it.
□ Late fees of more than $75 (or 1.5% of monthly rent, if less). TMC 1.95.065.

Required clauses in leases TMC 1.95.037(C)
□ Number of occupants.
□ Uninhabitable spaces not permitted for occupancy, if any (e.g., the attic, the
basement, etc).
□ Name and address of landlord, and name of local agent if necessary.
□ A provision that a tenant can propose a different day of the month that rent is due if
late fees are assessed and if tenant can prove that primary source of government rental
assistance is due on a specific day of the month.

Security Deposit Rules TMC 1.95.040
□ You generally have to allow payments of security deposits in installments.
□ If tenancy is for six months or longer (most leases), tenant can pay the damage
deposit, move-in fees, and last month’s rent in six equal installments over the first six
months.
□ If the tenancy is a fixed term between three to five months, the tenant can elect to pay
those fees in three equal installments.
□ If tenancy is month to month, same in two equal installments, the first due at the
beginning of the tenancy and the second due on the first day of the second month.
□ Other rules and prohibitions:
□ In order to pay in installments, tenant must make a request in writing;
□ Tenant cannot elect to pay in installments “if (1) the total amount of the
security deposit and nonrefundable move-in fees does not exceed 25 percent
of the first full month’s rent for the tenant’s dwelling unit; and (2) payment of
last month’s rent is not required at the inception of the tenancy.” TMC
1.95.040(A);
□ In order to collect a security deposit, the lease has to be in writing and the
move-in checklist must be in writing, “specifically describing the condition
and cleanliness of or existing damages to the premises and furnishings,” and

signed and dated by both landlord and tenant (give tenant copy). TMC
1.95.040)G);
□ Security deposit + last month’s rent must be placed in landlord’s trust account.
□ Pet deposits: Maximum 25% monthly rent.

Tacoma Late Fees
Late fees for Tacoma properties are limited to 1.5 percent of unpaid monthly rent. TMC
1.95.065. Also,
□ The landlord must provide quarterly notice of late fees due and how tenant can come
into compliance by paying; such notice “must include detailed information regarding
the month(s) for which a late fee is owed and a copy of an updated rent ledger and/or
information to obtain updated information on online rent portal.” TMC 1.95.065(C).
□ Late fees only apply to late rent, not to late payment of other charges.

Here are the limits on fees for Tacoma properties.
□ No rental application fees that violate RCW 59.18.257. This means that you can
charge application fees if and only if you provide prospective tenant in writing:
□ Type of information accessed in screening;
□ Criteria for denial of application;
□ Name/address of consumer reporting agency
□ Whether you will accept a reusable screening report.
Note: the above is just a summary of the statute, not legal advice. You need to
read the statute yourself. Also note that under TMC 1.95.030, you have to provide
this information in all cases to prospective tenants of rental properties within the
Tacoma City Limits.
□ No non-refundable fees before tenant takes possession such as a holding fee;
□ Limits pet damage deposits to 25% of monthly rent;
□ Move-in fees that exceed first month’s rent
□ No fees imposed after tenancy ends.

Business license. You need a current business license for your property before any notice
can be issued.
□ The regulations also require a certification that the dwelling complies with RCW
59.18.060.
□ The causes for eviction are the same as those outlined in RCW 59.18.650, with slight
variances.
□ Notices must be served personally or by posting + mailing, as provided in RCW
59.12.040.
□ Do affidavit of service
□ Notices must require the tenant to vacate at the end of the month.
□ Name of tenant, address/unit number, and reason for terminating tenancy must all be
stated.
□ Tacoma tenant resource packets must be served (note that there are different packets
depending on the type of notices.