Showing ordinances that apply to Fall City, WA
Fall City is an unincorporated community (population 2,032) in King County, Washington. Because Fall City is not an incorporated city, it does not have its own municipal code. Instead, King County ordinances apply directly to properties here. The just cause eviction rules below are the ones that govern your area.
Under RCW 59.18.650 (effective 2021), Washington statewide law requires just cause for terminating most month-to-month residential tenancies. King County also enacted Ordinance 19340 extending just-cause protections in unincorporated King County. Landlords must cite a permitted reason and provide proper notice.
Just cause eviction is one area where Washington state law permits and mandates local tenant protection, carved out from the rent control preemption. The 2021 state Residential Landlord-Tenant Act amendments (RCW 59.18.650) provide that a landlord may not terminate a month-to-month tenancy without one of the enumerated just causes. Permitted causes include: tenant nonpayment of rent (14-day pay-or-vacate notice), material lease violation after warning, substantial waste or nuisance, use of premises for unlawful purpose, refusal to allow lawful entry, tenant has been convicted of certain crimes on premises, landlord is removing the unit from the rental market, owner or immediate family member is moving in, landlord is performing substantial rehabilitation, demolition, or conversion, and a limited set of other reasons. Required notice periods vary: 14 days for nonpayment, 30 days or more for most no-fault reasons, and 20 days for month-to-month termination under a permitted cause. King County, through Ordinance 19340 (2021), extended and strengthened just-cause protections in unincorporated King County. Seattle and several other cities within King County have their own just-cause ordinances that may be stricter. A landlord who attempts to evict without just cause is subject to tenant defenses in unlawful detainer actions and may owe damages, attorneys fees, and up to three months rent under RCW 59.18.650(6).
Serving an eviction notice without citing a valid just cause, or retaliating for tenant complaints, can be challenged by the tenant in unlawful detainer defense. Landlords may be liable for tenant damages, attorneys fees, and statutory penalties up to three months rent under RCW 59.18.650.
See how Fall City's just cause eviction rules stack up against other locations.
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