Washington Landlords Can Raise Rent Up to 10% in 2027 Under the State's Rent Cap

Landlords across Washington will be allowed to raise rents by as much as 10% next year, the ceiling of what the state's new rent law permits. The Washington State Department of Commerce announced the 2027 cap on Wednesday, a figure driven up by the region's stubbornly high inflation.

The limit comes out of a law passed last year that holds annual rent increases at many properties to 7% plus inflation, up to a hard maximum of 10%. This year's cap landed just under that ceiling at 9.7%; for 2027, rising prices pushed it the rest of the way to the 10% cap.

How the 10% cap works

The formula is 7% plus the local rate of inflation, and the result is capped at 10% no matter how high inflation climbs. In the Seattle area, prices rose 4.5% in June, faster than the nation as a whole, which is enough to send the combined figure past the ceiling. So while the underlying math would allow more, the law holds the 2027 increase to 10%.

Lawmakers in Washington passed the limits after years of debate and testimony from tenants squeezed by housing costs. To avoid discouraging new apartment construction, they wrote in a carve-out for newer buildings, which are not subject to the cap.

What 10% looks like in Seattle

In Seattle, where RentDataNow tracks a typical rent of about $2,196 a month, a 10% increase adds roughly $220, pushing the same unit to around $2,416, an extra $2,640 over a year.

In Tacoma, a typical rent near $1,781 could rise about $178 under a full 10% increase, and in Spokane, where rent runs closer to $1,498, the cap allows roughly $150 more a month. The percentage is the same statewide, but the cap is a ceiling, not a mandate: nothing requires a landlord to raise rent by the full amount.

Which rentals are exempt

The cap does not cover every rental. It exempts units built in the last 12 years, subsidized affordable housing, and certain rentals where the owner lives on-site. It also does not apply between tenants: once one renter moves out, a landlord can reset the rent to whatever the market will bear before the next tenant moves in.

Manufactured housing is treated separately and more strictly. For residents of manufactured home communities, rent increases cannot top 5% a year, regardless of inflation.

How the cap is enforced

Enforcement falls first on renters. A tenant who believes their landlord has exceeded the cap must start with a written correction request to the landlord, and only then can escalate to a complaint with the Washington state attorney general.

The early track record has been light on penalties. In the law's first year, the state collected no penalties from landlords who violated it, the Washington State Standard reported this spring. The attorney general settled some cases, but landlords generally avoided penalties by canceling the illegal increases or refunding tenants rather than paying fines.

For renters weighing a move or a lease renewal, the cap sets a predictable ceiling on what a legal increase can be, but only for covered units. To see how rents are actually trending where you live, browse the full Washington rent data by city and ZIP code.

Sources

• The Seattle Times, "WA announces cap on rent hikes for 2027"

• Washington State Department of Commerce, 2027 annual rent-increase cap announcement

• Washington State Standard, reporting on first-year enforcement of the rent law

• RentDataNow city and state rent data (Zillow Observed Rent Index)