Anti-Rent Gouging Bill Signed into Law in Washington
Olympia, WA – Washington Low Income Housing Alliance Release: HB 1217, a bill to limit rent increases is up for final passage votes in the Washington State House and Senate. House members rejected amendments by the Senate that would have gutted protections from the policy, and a conference committee hammered out a compromise bill that restores protection to renters in single family homes as well as lowers the cap from 10% to 7% plus inflation (or 10% whichever is lower), and the cap for manufactured homeowners is 5%.
Michele Thomas, director of policy and advocacy for the statewide Low Income Housing Alliance in Washington, reacted to the compromise bill: “Excessive rent increases threaten nearly 1 million renter households in our state with displacement and homelessness, as rents continue to rise. While we wanted stronger protections for residential renters, this policy represents a meaningful first step toward providing some degree of stability for many households. This bill will help keep people in their homes as we continue to fight for stronger protections and for more affordable housing for our communities. Creating sensible limits on rent increases shouldnʼt have been this hard, but with deep-pocketed opposition spending hundreds of thousands of dollars this year alone to oppose this bill, we are appreciative that House and Senate Democrats are still working hard to get the bill passed.ˮ
This policy has been hard fought, with thousands of impacted renters fighting for years for the protection that rent stabilization can offer. Champions including Representative Macri, Senator Alvarado, Senator Trudeau, Senator Bateman, Representative Peterson and many other lawmakers have worked tirelessly to ensure the bill has meaningful protections.
We are very happy to see the compromise bill restore protections to the 38% of renters who live in single family homes. We are also happy that the bill provides strong protections for manufactured homeowners across the state with no more than a 5% allowable rent increase and other protections against excessive fees and deposits.
We are disappointed that in order to placate developers lobbying to be exempt from limitations on excessive rent increases, the bill sunsets protections against rent gouging after 15 years. There will never be a time when renter households can withstand excessive rent increases.
We fought hard for stronger protections for residential tenants than this bill offers because seniors and people with disabilities on a fixed income, low income workers and families with children wonʼt be able to withstand excessive rent increases on top of todayʼs already high rents. Even a 7% rent increase will force some people to move, disrupting their lives and their communities, and some will have no option but to move into cars, shelters, or tents. But this bill makes a first step towards sensible protections against egregious predatory rent increases and will deliver increased stability for renter households.
Weʼre calling on members of the House and the Senate to pass this bill and get it to Governor Ferguson for signing. The sooner this policy takes effect, the sooner hundreds of thousands of renters and manufactured home owners will no longer be subject to unexpected, large rent increases.ˮ
Rent stabilization is not controversial or divisive for Washington voters. In public opinion survey after survey capping rent increases has overwhelming – and rising – public support. In January, an Elway poll found 68 percent support for limiting the amount landlords can raise rent, 37% strongly favor. In February, EMC Research found supermajority support - 72% - for capping the amount landlords can increase rent annually– with strong majority support in every area of the state, across party affiliation, income, and whether those surveyed were homeowners or renters. 52% of those surveyed strongly support the rent stabilization policy, and 87% of Democrats support it. In March, a statewide YouGov poll found 81% favor rent stabilization policy to cap rent increases, with 57% strongly supporting it. Thousands of Washingtonians have signed into hearings in support of rent stabilization, and dozens have testified about the destabilizing impact large rent increases are having. They have been joined by many landlords who support rent stabilization.
