Washington’s Landlord-Tenant law, Chapt. 59.18 RCW, which governs residential rentals, has no specific provision addressing the death of a tenant. So technically the estate’s executor (often a relative) must step in and resolve the situation in basically the same manner as would a tenant who had simply left before the residential lease expired.
When the residential tenant leaves, the landlord expects the person’s belongings to be gone. If they’re not, the landlord is supposed to remove and store them. But landlords dislike doing that because of concerns about liability and cost. So they try to get the tenant (or the estate’s executor) to deal with them.
After the tenant leaves, the residential landlord must return the security deposit within 14 days or explain in writing why any portion is being kept. If that’s not done the estate’s executor can take the landlord to small claims court and demand a refund.
As for the rent, the law allows the landlord to keep charging a tenant (who breaks a lease) until the place is rerented. That even applies in cases like the death of a tenant.
While that may seem harsh, the thinking is that the landlord fulfilled his or her duty to provide a rental and shouldn’t take a financial hit for something he or she didn’t cause. In this case it’s the tenant’s passing. (Likewise a mortgage or car loan doesn’t disappear when that owner dies.)
But the landlord must make a good-faith effort to rerent. He or she can’t just leave it vacant.
Pursuant to RCW 11.48.020, the personal representative (estate’s executor) has the right to possess and manage real property of the estate during probate. At common law, real property of the decedent was treated differently from personal property, as it vested in the heirs immediately upon the death of the owner. So the personal representative had nothing to do with the real property, including rents or profits. The majority of states have changed the common law, like Washington, to allow the personal representative to have the immediate right to possess and manage real property, and to receive rents and profits of the estate.