Kent, WA Rental Inspections: Tenant Complaint Process (2026)

KCC 10.02.090 makes clear that the routine certificate-of-inspection cycle in Chapter 10.02 does not replace or block other avenues for getting a unit inspected. It expressly preserves additional inspections conducted under RCW 59.18.150 (the Residential Landlord-Tenant Act's inspection provisions), Chapter 1.04 KCC (general code enforcement), or an inspection requested or consented to by a tenant, obtained through a warrant, or pursued under the tenant remedy at RCW 59.18.115. That last cross-reference matters because it links Kent's local program to the state law process tenants use to force landlord action on needed repairs.

The connection to tenant complaints is reinforced by KCC 10.02.070(F)(4): before conducting a required inspection, the owner or landlord must send written notice to all units advising that some units will be inspected and that tenants whose units need repairs or maintenance should send written notification to the landlord under RCW 59.18.070; the notice must also tell tenants that if the landlord does not adequately respond to that repair request, the tenants may contact city of Kent officials. A copy of the notice must be given to the inspector on request on the inspection day.

Additionally, KCC 10.02.120 preserves the city's ability to inspect and cite for conditions that constitute an immediate health or safety threat regardless of the normal three-year schedule, giving code enforcement a fast path when a tenant complaint describes an urgent hazard.