Utilities Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Washington law says, what's specific to Seattle - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- RCW 59.18.300 makes it unlawful for a landlord to intentionally cut your water, heat, electricity or gas.
- You recover actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day service is lost.
- The statute sets no dollar ceiling, and the prevailing party recovers costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
- The only exception is an interruption for a reasonable time to make necessary repairs.
- No Seattle section we read adds a dollar penalty; SDCI enforces Seattle's housing maintenance and just-cause eviction rules.
Copy and send: As soon as your water, heat, electricity or gas is off and you have checked with the utility
Written request to restore service
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
Understanding the Utilities Clause
This page is for Seattle renters reading the utilities paragraph of a lease, or sitting without water, heat, power or gas right now. The clause decides which bills are yours: the meters in your name, and how a shared building bill for water, sewer or garbage gets split.
What it cannot do is turn your service into a rent lever. The first question is whether someone chose to cut it, because RCW 59.18.300 is about a landlord who intentionally causes the shutoff.
What renters assume
If the utility account is in my landlord's name, he can switch it off when rent is late.
What is actually true
Whose name is on the account changes nothing. RCW 59.18.300 makes it unlawful for a landlord to intentionally cause termination of your water, heat, electricity or gas, and unpaid rent is not a repair.
An uncapped daily meter beats a flat number the longer a shutoff runs. Georgia's entire penalty is a $500 fine paid to the state, with the renter collecting nothing, and Colorado's $5,000 or triple rent is a one-time sum - Washington's $100 a day just keeps counting.
Utilities Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Seattle, WA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities and services incurred in connection with the Premises.
Quoted from the published opinion in Dinh v. Raines, No. S-18262 (Alaska Feb. 23, 2024). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“[t]enant shall”
A duty, and the reason a renter often assumes there is nothing to argue about when the power goes off. There is. Washington's protection does not ask who pays the bill; it asks who intentionally caused the termination. If that was the landlord, the clause you signed is beside the point.
“responsible for all utilities and services”
The full sweep of the clause in one phrase - and in Dinh the landlord tried to make it carry his own consumption, with restaurant employees housed in unpermitted garage units drawing electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and fuel tank. It did not work. Washington's own list is narrower than “all”: water, heat, electricity and gas are the four the statute protects, which sits close to the line the Alaska court drew when it reversed on internet and cable.
“incurred in connection”
Incurred by whom, in connection with what - the two questions a diversion case turns on. Washington answers a narrower one, and answers it by the clock: up to $100 for each day or part of a day without service, on top of actual damages, and no statutory ceiling on the total. A loss measured in days is a loss you have to date.
See the example
“with the Premises”
The tether. Everything in this clause hangs on the unit you rented, which is why a landlord's own load on your meter falls outside it - that was Dinh, and the tenants recovered $1,050 on the rental agreement even for the services the court held were not essential. In Washington the only lawful interruption is one for a reasonable time to make necessary repairs. Longer than that, or for any other reason, is the violation itself.
The clause survived. The landlord did not. The Alaska Supreme Court held that a “tenant pays all utilities” clause does not let a landlord shift the cost of utilities he diverts. He had housed his restaurant employees in unpermitted garage units and let them draw electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and fuel tank. That was a willful diminution of essential services under AS 34.03.210, which exposes a landlord to exemplary damages of up to one and one-half times actual damages. The court affirmed that finding as to heat, hot water and electricity, and reversed as to internet and cable, which are not “essential services” under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The same utilities clause still carried the day on ordinary contract grounds: the tenants recovered $1,050 under AS 34.03.160 for the internet and cable, once they had given notice. Two things a renter should take from it - a broad “all utilities” clause is normal and enforceable, and it still does not make you the landlord's utility company.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Washington Law on Utilities Clause
- It is unlawful for a landlord to intentionally cause termination of a tenant's water, heat, electricity, or gas.
- The only exception is an interruption for a reasonable time to make necessary repairs.
- The landlord is liable for the tenant's actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day service is lost.
- The prevailing party recovers costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees; no dollar ceiling is set.
Sources include RCW 59.18.300 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
What RCW 59.18.300 says:
- The ban. A landlord may not intentionally cause termination of your water, heat, electricity or gas.
- The one exception. An interruption for a reasonable time to make necessary repairs.
- Damages. Your actual damages plus up to $100 for each day or part of a day the service is lost. The statute sets no dollar ceiling on the total, so a long shutoff keeps counting.
- Fees. The prevailing party recovers costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees.
The word carrying the weight is intentionally. A windstorm outage or a failed transformer is not a shutoff your landlord chose, and RCW 59.18.300 is about one that was. That is why the first useful fact is who asked for the service to stop.
What's Specific to Seattle
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
The $100-a-day remedy comes from state law, and no Seattle section we read adds a separate dollar penalty for a shutoff. What the city adds is enforcement: Seattle's Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) enforces the city's housing maintenance and just-cause eviction rules, which gives a complaint a local desk.
The everyday fight here is often billing. Older Capitol Hill, U-District and Ballard buildings are often master-metered, with water, sewer and garbage billed back as your share of the building's total.
Ask for the split formula and a recent building bill before you sign.
It should. A lease naming each service you cover leaves no room for a surprise bill-back later.
Good sign. With no meter of your own, that formula is the only math you can check.
Red flag. No. An intentional shutoff is unlawful, and its only exception is a reasonable time for necessary repairs.
Red flag. Have a tenant lawyer read any line trading away damages or attorney's fees before you sign.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- RCW 59.18.300 on app.leg.wa.gov, Washington's own publication of its statutes.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Utilities framed as a rent lever
Any wording hinting that service stops when rent is late. RCW 59.18.300 makes an intentional shutoff unlawful whatever the lease says.
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Bill-back with no formula
Shared water, sewer or garbage split by an unnamed method. Without a meter or a written formula, you have no way to check the charge.
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Open-ended repair shutoffs
The law's only exception is a reasonable time to make necessary repairs. A clause allowing shutoffs of any length reads far wider than that one carve-out.
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Landlord holds the utility account
In a master-metered building the switch sits with your property manager. That changes nothing legally, but logging the date and hour of an outage falls to you.
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Waiver of remedies or fees
Language signing away damages or attorney's fees for lost service. Fee recovery for the prevailing party is what makes a claim this size worth filing.
Your Rights as a Seattle Tenant
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Service can't be cut
Your landlord may not intentionally cause termination of your water, heat, electricity or gas (RCW 59.18.300).
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$100 for every lost day
Actual damages plus up to $100 for each day, or part of a day, the service is lost.
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No ceiling on the total
The statute sets no dollar cap, so a shutoff that runs for weeks keeps counting.
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Costs and attorney's fees
The prevailing party recovers costs of suit and reasonable attorney's fees.
What To Do - Step by Step
Log the exact hour
Write down when service stopped and photograph the meter, thermostat or dry tap. Damages count each day or part of a day.
Call the utility
Ask Seattle City Light or Seattle Public Utilities why service ended. They can tell you whether the landlord asked for the closure or it was an outage.
Put it in writing
Send a dated written request to restore service today. It shows the landlord knew about the shutoff.
Keep paying your rent
Withholding on your own judgment can hand your property manager a reason to file for eviction. Get advice first.
File a complaint with SDCI
SDCI enforces Seattle's housing maintenance and just-cause eviction rules, so your complaint reaches a local office.
Get tenant counsel
Call the Tenants Union of Washington State or King County's Housing Justice Project. Because the prevailing party recovers attorney's fees, a lawyer may cost less than you expect.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Utilities rules near Washington
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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