For renters
Check a notice you received
Free, no signup, and your answers are not saved.
Check my notice free →Current rent increase rules
Use the current rules for the rental’s location, then choose the tool that matches what you need to do.
For renters
Free, no signup, and your answers are not saved.
Check my notice free →For landlords
Check the amount and date free, then create the complete packet for $49.
Plan my increase →For 2026, the Washington standard rent limit checked by RentCap is 9.683%. Olympia adds longer notice periods and relocation assistance for larger increases. Olympia requires 120 days' notice for increases above 5%, 180 days for 10% or more, and 2.5 months' rent in relocation assistance for increases of 7% or more. The Washington percentage still sets the maximum; Olympia changes the timing and adds relocation duties.
Landlord next step
Enter the actual increase: the Olympia notice period and relocation duty depend on the percentage. The result shows when a slightly smaller increase would need less notice or avoid relocation assistance.
Renter next step
Compare the notice's delivery date and effective date with Olympia's notice period, and check whether the increase entitles you to relocation assistance. The result separates the state limit from the city rule.
Use the current rent, proposed rent, actual or planned delivery date, delivery method, kind of home, rental agreement, and any property-exemption facts you know. It is fine to mark difficult facts as unknown.
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The amount check starts with the current monthly rent and the proposed new rent. RentCap calculates the percentage increase, compares it with the published Washington limit, and keeps exemption questions separate so a missing fact does not look like a clean pass.
Washington notice timing and service rules decide the earliest supported effective date. The checker also aligns monthly increases to the rent-period start day entered in the form, because a day-count minimum can land mid-cycle.
Olympia requires 120 days' notice for increases above 5%, 180 days for 10% or more, and 2.5 months' rent in relocation assistance for increases of 7% or more. Olympia also requires relocation assistance of 2.5 times the monthly rent when the increase is 7% or more; the tenant requests it within 45 days after receiving the notice. RentCap checked this rule against the city code. ZIP code is used as a backup for the cities RentCap covers, which helps avoid a wrong answer when the city name is misspelled or abbreviated.
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Primary source: Washington cap publication · Olympia OMC 5.82.030–.040.