Legal Question in Business Law in Washington

Re: deposit to hold a price on appartment

I'm assuming you are asking about an arrangement where the landlord agreed to hold an apartment at a certain rate for a certain period of time while the prospective tenant was deciding, and then the prospective tenant decided not to take the unit.

Normally, such a deposit would not be refundable. If this is a residential unit (as I assume it is since you are calling it an apartment) the landlord must give a receipt for the deposit that states all of the terms at the time he or she takes the deposit. See RCW 59.18.253(2) for the statute on this if interested.

The landlord took the risk that another offer would come along and have to be turned away while the tenant was deciding. Even if no offer did in fact come along, the landlord is entitled to the agreed compensation for taking the risk.