Protected Early Lease-Termination Notice - Washington

PROTECTED EARLY LEASE-TERMINATION NOTICE

State: Washington

Safety first. Do not use an account, device, mailing address, or delivery method the adverse person can monitor. Call emergency services if there is immediate danger. This notice requests only information needed for the statutory route; do not add a detailed history of abuse.

1. Tenant, Landlord, and Lease

2. Notice of Protected Termination

I notify the Landlord that I am using the protected early-termination route described in Section 10. I or a person covered through me meets the state-specific eligibility rule, and I reasonably request release from future obligations as provided by that rule.

I am not providing a perpetrator's name or incident narrative in this notice. Any state-required identifying or incident information appears only in the permitted supporting document and is redacted or limited as Section 10 directs.

3. Date and Deadline Calculator

Do not use the requested date until Section 10 has been applied to the actual delivery method, rent interval, and documentation date.

4. Supporting Document

Attach one document qualifying under RCW 59.18.575(1)(a):

☐ Copy of a qualifying protection or antiharassment order identified in that subsection
☐ Written record of a report signed by a qualified third party acting in an official capacity

A written record from a law enforcement officer, qualifying health professional, or trained victim advocate may qualify if it records the report, is signed by that qualified third party acting officially, and is substantially in the form described by RCW 59.18.575(1)(b). The sample form may be used but is not the only way to prepare the record. Check the actual document before attaching it; an unsigned report or medical record alone does not establish this route.

Document date: [__/__/____]

Redactions completed: ☐ Yes ☐ Not permitted/needed

No medical record, diagnosis, therapy notes, full police file, or extra incident narrative is included unless the state-specific rule expressly requires it and counsel confirms the scope.

5. Vacancy, Rent, Deposit, and Property

I will surrender possession as required by the state route. I request a written ledger showing:

• rent through the lawful termination or release date;
• credits and prepaid rent;
• any security-deposit accounting;
• separately identified pre-termination balances; and
• no lease-break fee or future rent beyond what the state route permits.

Personal property left behind:

☐ None expected
☐ Instructions attached
☐ State-specific property instructions in Section 10 apply

6. Cotenants, Occupants, and Guarantors

Other tenants / occupants: [________________________________]

Guarantor, if any: [________________________________]

This notice does not guess whether another tenant, occupant, or guarantor is released. Apply the exact state rule and obtain a written account of who remains liable. Do not send this notice to an adverse cotenant unless the state rule or a court requires it and a safety plan is in place.

7. Safe Communications and Forwarding Address

Safe contact method:

☐ Email: [________________________________]
☐ Phone / text: [________________________________]
☐ Advocate or attorney: [________________________________]
☐ Mail to safe address: [________________________________]

Forwarding-address choice:

☐ Use the safe address above only for deposit/accounting mail.
☐ I will provide a forwarding address later.
☐ Send statutory financial notices through my attorney/advocate.
☐ Do not disclose my relocation address to any cotenant, occupant, adverse party, reference caller, or third party except with my written consent or as law requires.

8. Confidential Handling Request

Mark this notice and every attachment CONFIDENTIAL — RESTRICTED ACCESS. Limit access to personnel who must process the request. Do not place protected information in ordinary maintenance notes, tenant-screening comments, shared databases, or reference responses.

Return or securely destroy excess copies after the retention period required by law or counsel. These instructions supplement, and do not narrow, any mandatory state confidentiality rule.

9. Delivery Record

Method used:

☐ Mail (record postage and tracking, if any)
☐ Fax (record transmission confirmation)
☐ Personal delivery by a third party (identify deliverer below)
☐ Other method for the ordinary subsection (1) route: [________________________________]

For the special subsection (3) route, send both the qualifying document and written notice that the tenant vacated by mail, fax, or personal delivery by a third party within seven days after quitting. Do not use the last choice for that route.

Delivered to: [________________________________]

Delivery address / account: [________________________________]

Tracking, witness, receipt, or screenshot retained: ☐ Yes

10. Washington Route — RCW § 59.18.575

The ordinary route covers a tenant or household member who was a victim of a crime of domestic violence, sexual assault, unlawful harassment, or stalking.

Provide either a qualifying protection or antiharassment order or a written record of a report signed by a qualified third party. Under subsection (1), the termination request must occur within 90 days of the reported act, event, or circumstance giving rise to the order or report. Subsection (3) provides a different sequence when the landlord is the perpetrator of sexual assault, stalking, or unlawful harassment.

The qualified-third-party record must state that the victim reported the qualifying conduct, the time/date and location, a brief description, and that the victim informed the third party of the alleged perpetrator's name. The landlord copy must not include that name. The qualified third party retains it separately. If using the landlord-perpetrator termination route in subsection (3) or lock-change route in subsection (4), the record must be substantially in the statutory form in subsection (1)(b).

Under the ordinary route, the tenant is discharged from rent after the last day of the month in which the tenant quits, subject to subsection (2)(a). Other tenants, except household members who are victims, are not automatically released. If the landlord is the alleged perpetrator of sexual assault, stalking, or unlawful harassment, subsection (3) permits vacancy before delivering the qualifying document, but requires delivery by mail, fax, or personal delivery by a third party within seven days after quitting. That special route discharges rent after the later of vacancy or delivery of the record and written vacancy notice, as subsection (3)(b) provides.

11. Tenant Signature

I certify that the statements I made in this notice are true to the best of my knowledge. I understand that the attached documentation and state-specific route control the effective date and financial result.

Tenant signature: ________________________________

Printed name: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

WASHINGTON QUALIFIED-THIRD-PARTY RECORD (IF USING THAT EVIDENCE ROUTE)

The reporting person and qualified third party complete this record together. Do not add narrative detail. The qualified third party records the alleged perpetrator's name only on a separately retained copy. Do not include that name in the landlord copy.

Organization, agency, clinic, or professional service provider: [________________________________]

Qualified third party and official capacity: [________________________________]

I, [TENANT OR HOUSEHOLD MEMBER NAME], reported that I or my household member was a victim of:

Qualifying conduct reported:

☐ Domestic violence ☐ Sexual assault ☐ Unlawful harassment ☐ Stalking

Time and date of act(s): [________________________________]

Location of act(s): [________________________________]

Brief description limited to what the statute requires: [________________________________]

I informed the qualified third party of the alleged perpetrator's name. That name is omitted from this landlord copy.

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of Washington that the foregoing is true and correct.

Signed at [CITY], Washington, on [DATE].

Tenant or household member signature: [________________________________]

I, the qualified third party signing below, verify that I provided the reporting person the statutes cited in RCW 59.18.575; the person was a victim of an act constituting domestic violence, sexual assault, unlawful harassment, or stalking; and the person informed me of the alleged perpetrator's name. I informed the reporting person that information about the landlord mitigation program, including its form, is available on the website established under RCW 43.31.605(11).

Qualified-third-party signature: ________________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Business contact information: [________________________________]

SOURCES AND REFERENCES

• Washington Legislature — RCW § 59.18.570
• Washington Legislature — RCW § 59.18.575