Seattle rental compliance guides

Seattle's Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance, codified as SMC Chapter 22.214, requires nearly every rental housing unit in the city to be registered with the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections. That includes accessory dwelling units like a basement apartment or a backyard cottage, and a property must be registered as soon as it has a tenant, not on some later annual cycle. Registration is valid for two years and must be renewed by the expiration date shown on the registration certificate, through the Seattle Services Portal. Renewal involves verifying information about the property, units, ownership, and contacts, completing the required declaration, and paying the fee. As of January 2026, the fee is $126 for a property including its first rental unit, plus $31.50 for each additional unit, with the city's 5% technology fee included in the listed amounts. Inspections run on their own cycle: each registered property must pass a checklist-based inspection at least once every five to ten years, on a rolling basis, by a qualified private inspector who meets the city's training requirements. Tenants must be notified at least two days before an inspection, and a failed checklist requires follow-up inspections completed within 60 calendar days. Missing a registration deadline or skipping a required inspection starts with a warning letter and then a formal Notice of Violation, and once its compliance date passes uncorrected, penalties begin accruing at $150 per day for the first 10 days and $500 per day after that. Because the registration date and the inspection date rarely line up, they are worth tracking as separate records. Below are Tusk's plain-language guides to what's currently required.

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