Yakima County, WA Rental Property Rules: Just Cause Eviction (2026)
Just cause eviction rules in Yakima County, WA, sometimes called tenant protection or "for cause" eviction ordinances, list the specific legal reasons a landlord can end a tenancy.
Key Facts
- Governing law
- RCW 59.18.650, Residential Landlord-Tenant Act
- Applies to
- Unincorporated Yakima County (statewide law)
- Just-cause list
- About 20 enumerated causes, subsection (2)
- Owner move-in notice
- 90 days, rebuttable good-faith presumption
- Repeat-violation notice
- 60 days after 4 violations in 12 months
- Penalty
- Greater of damages or 3x monthly rent
- Current version expires
- Superseded January 1, 2028
Summary
Under RCW 59.18.650, landlords in unincorporated Yakima County cannot evict a tenant, refuse to renew, or end a periodic tenancy without one of twenty state-listed causes, from unpaid rent to an owner's good-faith move-in. Month-to-month and most fixed-term renters both gain just-cause protection once the lease converts to a periodic tenancy.
(1)(a) A landlord may not evict a tenant, refuse to continue a tenancy, or end a periodic tenancy except for the causes enumerated in subsection (2) of this section and as otherwise provided in this subsection... (d) For all other tenancies of a specified period not covered under (b) or (c) of this subsection, and for tenancies of an indefinite period on a month-to-month or periodic basis, a landlord may not end the tenancy except for the causes enumerated in subsection (2) of this section. Upon the end date of the tenancy of a specified period, the tenancy becomes a month-to-month tenancy... (4) A landlord who removes a tenant or causes a tenant to be removed from a dwelling in any way in violation of this section is liable to the tenant for wrongful eviction, and the tenant prevailing in such an action is entitled to the greater of their economic and noneconomic damages or three times the monthly rent of the dwelling at issue, and reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs.
Full Breakdown
650, governs every rental in unincorporated Yakima County because the county has no separate landlord-tenant code of its own. Subsection (1)(a) bars a landlord from evicting, refusing to continue, or ending a periodic tenancy except for a cause listed in subsection (2). A month-to-month tenancy created after an indefinite-term lease expires can only be ended without cause at the close of the initial 6-12 month lease term, and only with 60 days' written notice; true fixed-term leases of 12 months or more can end without cause at term's end with the same 60-day notice, but once that pattern breaks the tenancy becomes month-to-month under subsection (1)(d) and full just-cause protection applies.
030(3); an unremedied material lease breach after a 10-day cure notice; waste, nuisance, or unlawful activity after a 3-day notice; an owner's good-faith move-in after 90 days' notice (with a rebuttable presumption of bad faith if the owner does not occupy for 60 of the next 90 days); sale of a single-family home after 90 days' notice; a condemned or uninhabitable unit after 30 days' notice; four separate lease violations in 12 months after written warnings and a 60-day notice; and a sex-offender registration requirement or sexual harassment of another tenant, among others.
Subsection (3) requires a landlord to give a co-resident occupant 30 days to apply to take over the tenancy before starting an unlawful detainer action. 040 and to identify the specific facts supporting the stated cause. This version of the statute, amended by 2024 c 321, remains in effect until a further revision takes effect January 1, 2028.
Violations & Fines
A landlord who evicts, removes, or forces out a tenant without a cause listed in subsection (2) is liable under subsection (4) for wrongful eviction. The tenant who prevails is entitled to whichever is greater: their actual economic and noneconomic damages, or three times the unit's monthly rent, plus reasonable attorneys' fees and court costs. The claim is filed as a civil action, typically in Yakima County Superior or District Court, not as a county code citation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a landlord in unincorporated Yakima County evict a tenant without giving a reason?
How much notice must a landlord give before moving into a rental themselves?
What can a tenant recover if evicted without a valid cause?
Does just-cause protection apply to a roommate's guest who never signed the lease?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Yakima County
Compare Yakima County to another location·View the Washington rental property rules overview
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