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To read the specific laws in the WA State Residential Landlord-Tenant Act, click on the RCW (Revised Code of Washington) links throughout the Tenant Services website.
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All city of Seattle tenants living in buildings with three or more units are covered under the third party billing ordinance. Third party billing is when the landlord is billed by the utility company and then passes the cost on to the tenants living in the rental units. The landlord is billed for utility usage based on the entire building’s charges or master meter, and then divides the bill up and sends it to individual units. Tenants are charged based on the divided total bill, rather than their individual utility usage. Sometimes landlords use billing companies to divide and calculate the bills for each unit. These companies may be based outside of the state, but they still must conform to third party billing rules for all units located in the city of Seattle. It is legal for landlords to bill tenants for utilities, and to use out of state billing companies, but they must conform to the obligations set out in the third party billing ordinance. The ordinance requires landlord and billing agencies to disclose detailed information to tenants about their bills and to be transparent about their billing practices.