Legal to charge tenants a "maintenance charge" (Washington State)

[Knute Olsen]

Hello,

Going to start renting out my first property very soon. I am dotting the I's and crossing the T's to get ready.

I was wondering, is it legal to charge tenants a "maintenance charge" (obviously I would write this into the lease) of say $50 or $100 every time somebody needs to come out to the property for a maintenance issue. I would not be doing it to make extra money, I would do it to avoid constant phone calls about unclogging a toilet, changing batteries in smoke detectors, changing lightbulbs, small things like that.

I have seen this suggestion in other posts on BP. Also, I am specifically wondering if it is legal in Washington State. I could not find anything in our states Landlord/Tenant law, so landlords familiar with WA law would be helpful. Our state is very "tenant friendly" in our Landlord/Tenant law.