Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill into law that imposes rent caps on the state’s landlords.
House Bill 1217 limits rent increases for existing tenants in Washington state to 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower, and it also limits rent increases for manufactured homes to 5%. Rent increases will be prohibited for the first year of a tenancy – but landlords will be able to set the initial rate for new tenants at whatever level they please.
Exemptions to the rent caps cover the first 12 years of new construction, public housing, low-income developments, and duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes where the owner lives at the property. Rent hike notices will now need to be presented 90 days before they go into effect, up from the current 60 days.
Sean Flynn, the executive director of the Rental Housing Association of Washington, told the Washington Standard that he was upset the new law included an emergency clause allowing it to go into immediate effect. He stated his organization is considering a legal challenge to the law, dubbing it “a tragedy for the industry and for tenants across the state” that will result in higher prices and a lower rental housing supply.
The new bill was part of a suite of legislation signed into law by Ferguson that included additional insurance options for condominiums, expanding tax incentives to support affordable housing and reducing housing permit timelines.
