Residential Landlord-Tenant Act.  The Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA) governs the relationship and agreements between residential landlords and tenants.

Notice of a Rent Increase.  Landlords subject to RLTA must provide each affected tenant with written notice of a rent increase at least 60 days before the increase, and any increase in rent may not become effective prior to completion of the term of the rental agreement.  For subsidized rental agreements governing income-based tenancies or circumstances specific to the household, a landlord must give 30 days' notice of an increase in rent to each affected tenant.  An increase in the amount of rent of subsidized agreements may become effective upon completion of the term of the rental agreement, or sooner upon mutual consent.

Tenant Lease Termination.  A tenant subject to RLTA may end a rental agreement by providing a landlord with written notice at least 20 days before the end of any month for a month-to-month tenancy, or written notice at least 20 days before the end date specified in the rental agreement for a longer-term tenancy.  Upon receiving certain military orders, a tenant who is a member of the armed forces may end a month-to-month tenancy with less than 20 days of written notice and may end a longer-term tenancy with at least 20 days of written notice at any time during the tenancy.

Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act.  The Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act (MHLTA) governs the relationship and agreements between the owner of a manufactured or mobile home community (landlord) and the owner of the manufactured or mobile home (tenant).  MHLTA includes a dispute resolution program run through the Attorney General's Office (AGO).

Notice of a Rent Increase.  Three months' written notice is required from a landlord seeking to raise a tenant's rent at the end of a rental agreement term.  Rental agreements may not contain provisions allowing the landlord to alter the due date for rent payments or increase the rent during the term of the rental agreement if the term is less than two years, or more frequently than annually if the initial term is for two years or more.  An exception is provided for certain escalation clause provisions.

Tenant Lease Termination.  A tenant subject to MHLTA may end a rental agreement by providing a landlord with written notice one month before the expiration of the rental agreement.  A tenant may end a rental agreement with 30 days of written notice at any time during the rental agreement whenever a change in the location of the tenant's employment requires a change in residence.  A tenant who is a member of the armed forces may end a rental agreement with less than 30 days of written notice at any time during the rental agreement if the tenant receives certain military orders that do not allow for greater notice.

Rent and Fee Increase Limit.  Unless an exemption applies, a landlord is prohibited from increasing the rent for a tenant subject to RLTA, regardless of the length of their lease, in an amount greater than 7 percent during any 12-month period, or by any amount during the first 12 months after the tenancy begins.   Unless an exemption applies, a landlord is prohibited from increasing the rent for a tenant subject to MHLTA, regardless of the length of their lease, in an amount greater than 5 percent during any 12-month period, or by any amount during the first 12 months after the tenancy begins. 

Exemptions.  The rent increase limit does not apply in the following circumstances:

• in dwelling units subject to the RLTA where the first certificate of occupancy was issued 12 or fewer years before the date of the notice of the rent increase;
• during the first 12 months after the qualified sale of a manufactured or mobile home community (MHC) to an eligible organization under MHLTA whose mission aligns with the long-term preservation and affordability of the MHC, if needed to cover the cost of purchasing the MHC and approved by the majority of homeowners in the MHC;
• in dwelling units owned by, or manufactured or mobile home lots operated by, a public housing authority, public development authority, or nonprofit organization where maximum rents are regulated by other laws or local, state, or federal affordable housing program requirements;
• for tenancies in certain low-income housing developments;
• certain owner-occupied rentals under the RLTA; and
• when a rental agreement subject to the MHLTA is transferred due to the sale of manufactured or mobile home the landlord has the option, after giving notice to the purchaser prior to the transfer, to make a one-time increase in an amount not limited by the 5 percent cap at the time of the first renewal of the home lot rental agreement after the transfer.

Notice Requirements.  A landlord must provide tenants with written notice of rent increases in a specific form.  If a landlord claims an exemption from the rent and fee increase limit, the landlord must include facts supporting the exemption in the notice. 

The landlord must provide each affected tenant a minimum of 90 days' prior written notice of an increase in rent in the RLTA or the three-month notice requirement for rent increases in MHLTA.  If a tenant whose rental agreement under RLTA was entered or renewed before the effective date of the act and agreement has more than 60 days but less than 90 days left before the end of the specified date, the landlord must provide the tenant a minimum of 60 days' before the effective date of an increase in rent.

Tenant Lease Termination.  If a landlord increases the rent above the 7 percent limit without providing a qualifying exemption, the tenant:

• must offer the landlord an opportunity to cure the unauthorized rent increase by providing a written demand to reduce the increase to an amount that complies with the limit; and
• may terminate a rental agreement at any time by providing the landlord with at least 20 days of written notice under RLTA or 30 days of written notice under MHLTA, in combination with other remedies.  When terminating a rental agreement under these circumstances, the tenant only owes rent for the full month in which the tenant vacates the dwelling unit or manufactured or mobile home lot, and the landlord is prohibited from charging the tenant any fines or fees for terminating the rental agreement.

Other Tenant Protections.  For lease or rental agreements entered on or after the effective date of the bill for tenancies subject to the MHLTA:

• move-in fees and security deposit combined may not exceed one month's rent, unless the tenant has pets, then the combined amount may not exceed two month's rent.  Tenant deposits paid as security for performance shall be deposited in trust for the tenant, and any interest earned shall be paid to the landlord unless otherwise agreed upon; and
• late fees for rent more than five days past due may not exceed:
  • 2 percent of the tenants total rent per month during the first month that rent is past due;
  • 3 percent during the second consecutive month rent is past due; and
  • 5 percent during the third consecutive month the rent is past due.  

Landlords subject to the RLTA:

• are prohibited from including terms or conditions in a rental agreement that are more burdensome to a tenant for a month-to-month rental agreement than for a longer-term rental agreement, or vice versa; and
• must provide parity between lease types with respect to the amount of rent charged, with parity being no more than 5 percent difference in rent depending on type of rental agreement offered.

Landlords may not report the tenants subject to the RLTA or MHLTA to a tenant screening service provider for failure to pay the portion of the tenant's rent that was unlawfully increased in violation of this act.

Enforcement.  A tenant or the AGO may bring a court action to enforce compliance.  If a court finds that a landlord violated the provisions of the act, the court must award the tenant:

• damages in the amount of any excess rent, fees, or other costs paid by the tenant;
• mandatory damages equal to three months of any unlawful rent, fees, or other costs charged by the landlord; and
• reasonable attorneys' fees and costs to whomever brought the action. 

The AGO may bring an action regardless of whether the tenant has offered the landlord an opportunity to cure, and may recover civil penalties of not more than $7,500 for each violation in addition to other remedies provided by the act.   The attorney general may issue written civil investigative demands for pertinent documents, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony as required to investigate or bring an action.

Definition of Rent Under the Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act.  For MHLTA, rent or rental amount is defined as recurring and periodic charges identified in the rental agreement for the use and occupancy of the manufactured or mobile home lot, which may include certain charges for utilities.  These terms do not include nonrecurring charges for costs incurred due to late payment, damages, deposits, legal costs, or other fees, including attorney fees.

Other Provisions.  The Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee must provide an analysis of housing market trends, tenant stability and turnover and an evaluation of social vulnerability impacts of the act to appropriate legislative committees of the Legislature within ten years of the effective date of the act.

The bill contains a severability clause.

The RLTA rental increase cap, exceptions to the RLTA rental increase cap, and notice provisions regarding RLTA rental increases expire July 1, 2045.

• Removes from the notice of rent increase the requirement that when a landlord is claiming an exemption the landlord must do so under penalty of perjury.
• Sets an expiration date of July 1, 2045, for the first three sections of the bill. Requires that the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee analyze housing market trends, tenant stability and turnover and evaluate social vulnerability impacts of the act and provide the analysis to the appropriate committees of the Legislature within ten years of the effective date of the act.
• Clarifies the tenant receives damages awarded if either the tenant or the attorney general brings an action for a violation of the statute, and if attorneys' fees and costs are awarded, they go to who filed the lawsuit.
• Authorizes the attorney general to bring an action notwithstanding whether the tenant has offered the landlord an opportunity to cure, and may recover civil penalties of not more than $7,500 for each violation in addition to other remedies provided by the act.
• Provides the attorney general with authority to issue written civil investigative demands for pertinent documents, answers to written interrogatories, or oral testimony as required to investigate or bring an action.
• Changes the rent increase cap for Manufactured/Mobile Home Landlord-Tenant Act from 7 percent to 5 percent.
• Removes the rent increase cap limitation when a rental agreement is transferred according to statute due to a former tenant's sale of a manufactured or mobile home when the landlord exercises the option to make a one-time increase to the rent for the manufactured or mobile home lot at the time of first renewal of the rental agreement after the transfer.

• Eliminates the requirement that the Department of Commerce contract with an independent third party to carry out a social vulnerability assessment of the impacts of this act.

The committee recommended a different version of the bill than what was heard.  PRO: This is a reasonable, balanced bill that seeks to provide some modest amount of stability and predictability to renters in the state of Washington.  This bill that's before us today is a compromise.  Landlords who thought that the 180-day notice period was too long, this bill has a 90-day notice period.  Landlords who complained about having caps on moving fees and late fees for residential housing, this bill removes requirements on late fees and moving fees. 

Developers who wanted to see a longer exemption for new construction, this bill moves the exemption from 10 years to 12 years to mirror the state property tax exemption.  Some people were concerned about the enforcement protections under this bill, the bill removes the Consumer Protection Act from applying under this bill.

Manufactured homeowner communities said that the rent cap was too restrictive when a manufactured homeowner leaves their home, the legislation allows for a one-time 10 percent increase after someone leaves a manufactured home.

Forty percent of the people in this state are renters or manufactured homeowners and they have zero protections right now about how high their rent can go up.  The bill gives a modest amount of predictability and stability.

Solving our housing shortfall requires a three legged stool.  The first, that future is to increase housing options, providing additional development capacity and address other impediments to housing. The second, is increase investments in long term affordable housing. And the third leg of the stool, HB 1217 addresses our housing issues on rent stabilization.

Having predictable and stable rent provides potential home buyers a way to plan on savings and assisting them get their first home.

Mobile homeowners on a fixed income are struggling to pay for the significant increase to the property rent increases.  They have stopped paying for medication, cut back on groceries and turned their heat off to pay for these increases.  It's wrong that our seniors are forced to prioritize higher rent in lieu of food, doctor appointments, and vital medications.

From my lived experience, along with data collected from more tenants of Black, Indigenous, and people of color, the discrimination in housing stability like ours will continue without rent stabilization to keep landlords and property management from raising rents to evict people of color like my already victimized family.

Fixed costs for landlords, including mortgages, principal and interest, have been the largest portion of their expenses. All of their other expenses combined could go up 35 percent and they could still be covered by the 7 percent allowed rent increase, and make a comfortable profit.

CON: Extensive global research clearly illustrates the harmful impacts of rent caps on housing markets.  A recent comprehensive review published in the Journal of Housing Economics analyzed 200 global studies consistently highlighting negative effects such as impacts on housing supply and affordability.

Moreover, rent caps jeopardized state and local budgets, especially given this state's tax structure heavily which relies on housing construction for critical revenue.  These housing construction projects generate substantial one-time sales tax revenues and ongoing occupation taxes such as utility taxes, benefit local jurisdictions.

There is not statewide system capacity or funding for nonprofits alone to meet the state's need for affordable housing development and operations.  The operational risk proposition for for-profit affordable housing developers is increased by this bill, because our low-income partnerships do not qualify for the exemption, then for-profit developers will no longer develop in Washington due to the risk.  The system will produce less housing because this bill discriminates against certain property owners.

New investment in Washington's multifamily housing market is already in decline.  Last September, the Office of Financial Management revised projected state revenues through 2029 to decline by $39 million primarily due to reduced projections for construction activity resulting in reduced sales tax collection. This bill will further decline these revenues.  Last year, the nation's fifth largest multifamily developer and builder publicly closed their Washington operations and several other large real estate developers have recently stated that they will divest from Washington. Often these decisions are directly tied to investor concerns about increased regulation and declining returns. If this legislation passes, we can expect further divestment.

Washington is largely dependent on raising capital both within the state of Washington and outside the state of Washington.  And when we have these artificial impacts on the free market, a lot of these investment dollars tend to move elsewhere.  These regulations directly impact the free market and the ability of developers to keep up with costs.

Oregon and St. Paul, Minnesota have rent control and since their enactments, there has been a stark increase in eviction rates.  Increases in eviction rates in both those regions have exceeded 50 percent from pre 2019-2020 levels.

Section 103 includes a mandatory notice.  And in that mandatory notice is a statement that the landlord declares under penalty of perjury.  This is a hidden penalty in the bill.  One mistake in calculating rent or transcribing that notice from the statute could result in ten years in prison or a $20,000 fine.

Section 202 is a problem for manufactured housing communities because it doesn't allow the landlord to reset the rent when a new tenant comes in, it only allows a 10 percent increase. 

OTHER:  Southport Financial Services is one of the largest providers of deed restricted affordable farm worker and workforce housing, operating 50 properties statewide that provide more than 3000 permanently affordable homes to families across our state. Southport's concerns is language in section 102 that requires light tech entities to secede majority decision-making authority to the nonprofit organization Southport partners on these projects in order to qualify for the exemptions provided under this legislation. And while every one of Southport's properties includes a nonprofit organization in the general partnership, seceding majority decision-making authority would make it impossible to secure that private capital necessary between $40 and $60 million.

PRO: Representative Emily Alvarado, Prime Sponsor; Harpreet Kaur, Washington Build Back Black Alliance (WBBA); Deborah Wilson; Tomas Ramon Vasquez, Familias Unidas por la Justicia; Tina Hammond; Bryce Yadon, Futurewise and Habitat for Humanity Seattle-King & Kittitas Counties; Duana Ricks-Johnson, Resident Action Program; Kelley Rinehart; Kerri Burnside, Bellingham Tenants Union; Kathy Yasi; Sarah Cherin, UFCW 3000; Madeline Foutch, SEIU 775; Vanessa Kritzer, Redmond City Council President; Linda Burt, Laurel Park Manufactured Home Community.

PRO: Makayla Pugmire; Paula Sardinas, Washington Build Back Black Alliance (WBBA); Kyle Matheson, Self advocate; Kerri Burnside, Bellingham Tenants Union; Stacey Valenzuela, Manufactured Homeowner; Virginia Berry; Blake Lyon, Director of Planning and Community Development for the City of Bellingham, WA; Carolyn Stetson; Caitlin Sullivan; Shirley Messick; Caroline Hardy, Secretary AMHO and Leisure Manor Tenants Association; Kendra Rachal; Octavia Santiago Martinez, Familias Unidas por la Justicia; Catherine Davis; Julie Staggers; William Dean, Retired; Jennifer Johnson; Lauren Moffat; Ellen torres; Marcos Munoz; Claudia Barrera Vasquez; Leigh Christianson, Oly Rollers Mobile Home Resident Association; Deb Swope; Kimberly Marquette, Gideonglassart; Daryl Lawrence; Isaac Cavazos; Aracely Santiago; Sharron Hall; Rhea de Ruyter; Brenda Dill; Natasha Fecteau Minger.

PRO:  Renters need to have stability in their homes.  Rising rents are untenable, and the status quo is not working for working families.  This bill will offer an opportunity for dignity for grocery workers.  48,000 students, 4.2 percent of students in the state, experience homelessness, which is attributable to rising rents in many areas.  Educators cannot live in many of the communities in which they teach.  I don't know if I'll be able to stay to finish my degree because I can't afford rising rents. 

Rent stabilization is critical to fixing the disproportionate impact of housing insecurity on disadvantaged communities in Washington.  Racial disparities still exist and cannot be ignored.  Black households are more than twice as likely to be renters and more likely to be rent burdened than white renters.  54 percent of Latino families with kids are rent-burdened.   Seattle is where I found a supportive LGBTQ+ community, but I've had to move seven times in the six years I've lived here due to rising rents.

This bill is fair for landlords and the right thing to do for our tenants.  It's smart business for small landlords to keep rent rises low.  Our revenue relies on tenant stability.  A 5 percent increase is more than enough to be profitable in the mobile home park industry.  Mobile home parks used to be affordable housing, and with this bill, they still can be.  There is unrestrained greed of out of state investors to raise rents in mobile home parks that is simply astonishing.

Housing costs are a top concern for Washington seniors—this bill is worth the costs.  Rent increases under this bill are still above the 2-3 percent COLAs many retirees receive.  Living costs go up, but not our income.  Testifiers report rent increases of up to 50 percent afte private equity firms purchased mobile home parks and 75 percent increases in utilities.  Some elder folks are paying 70 percent of their income for rent.  There will be a bigger strain on agencies serving homeless populations if more tenants are priced out of manufactured home communities.  Hunger and housing security are tightly linked.  The cost of housing drives people to use food banks.

CON:  Rent control is bad policy that will push investment capital and new construction to other states.  Developers go where they are wanted and investors will move their cash to states where the risk makes sense for them.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will take their capital elsewhere.   How will we build 200,000 new units in the next four years if developers won't build in this state due to rent control?

Landlords can't afford to operate if they can't turn a profit and will be priced out of existence.   My interest rate changed 68 percent this year, insurance went up 8 percent, and garbage utilities went up 7.5 percent.    This will make a current problem even worse.  Unpaid rent and increased operational costs make partnership with our tenants harder.  This weaponizes the Attorney General to attack landlords like me and will drive me out of Seattle.  This violates the federal Takings Clause by denying landlords a reasonable rate of return.

New housing creates places to live and tax revenue for our cities.  We need increased revenues to thrive—when these units are not built, state loses out on revenue.  Each unbuilt unit costs the state about $42,000 in revenue.  20,000 residential units result in $700 million in construction sales tax. 

This will affect construction and maintenance—building applications went down in St. Paul, Minnesota by 30 percent after the policy went into effect.  New York City has maintenance issues, and many units in that city are uninhabitable because landlords can't afford the maintenance due to rent controls.  Property owners will have properties decline in quality and valuation.  More rental properties are being sold and becoming owner-occupied.

This will increase the costs to provide affordable housing.  If we can't attract investment or justify increased operational risk, we won't be able to start new projects.  Developers will only build luxury units.  In Longview, one-eighth of the rental supply is being sold to out-of-state holders.

Homelessness has increased in California and Oregon despite enactment of rent stabilization.  St. Paul, Minnesota is repealing their rent control ordinance because there was no new construction.  Problem is the lack of new construction.  This is the most severe form of rent control proposed on the West Coast and will put Washington at a competitive disadvantage.

We didn't hear these concerns prior to COVID, then the state put in rules to protect tenants against COVID shutdowns.  Some tenants feel entitled to stay in units when they can't or won't pay, driving up costs for landlords.  Remove the COVID-era rule changes if you want to improve housing stability.

We ask that the exemption for low-income tax credit properties be expanded from nonprofits and public entities to all providers of these regulated facilities.  We ask to tie the rent cap to the Consumer Price Index, make penalties reasonable and fair, and extend the exemption for new construction to 20 years.

OTHER:  The exemption from rent increase limitations for low-income housing providers should be modified so that for-profit entities don't have to delegate decision making to non-profit entities to qualify.

PRO: Leigh Christianson, Oly Rollers Home Owners; Kyle Lucas, Chair, Tenants United at Western Plaza Mobile Home Park & Urban Indians Northwest; Charity Grice; Terri Anderson, Tenants Union of Washington State; Caroline Hardy, Secretary AMHO and Leisure Manor Tenants Association; Roger Jones, Holiday Properties and Columbia East Investments; Bryce Yadon, Futurewise and Habitat for Humanity Seattle, King and Kittitas County; Talauna Reed, Tenants Union of Washington State; Kelley Rinehart; Sara Eubank; John Nolan; Sarah Cherin, UFCW 3000; Simone Boe, Washington Education Association; Brandon Garcia; Claire Lane, Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition; Jake García, Latino Community Fund of Washington State.