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Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Compromise reached on Washington bill to cap rent increases
(Photo by) Washington Democrats have landed on a new proposed limit on residential rent increases after negotiations in the Legislature. Under the version House and Senate Democrats announced late Thursday, annual rent hikes statewide would be capped at 7% plus inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower in a given year. The latest bill would also nix a proposed carveout for some single-family homes and shorten the time that new construction would be exempt from the cap. The news provides a potential middle-ground resolution for a bill that is a top priority for progressives and a policy idea that failed to win approval in Olympia last year. Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, said Thursday that 'I know that there will be many tenants around the state who will have wished for a stronger policy, but this bill brings important protections.' Lawmakers once appeared set to push through a 7% cap despite staunch opposition from Republicans, some moderate Democrats and many landlords. But the Senate thwarted that plan this month when lawmakers raised the limit to 10% plus inflation in a surprising move that squeaked through by a single vote. The Democratic senator who proposed the change said at the time that a 7% cap 'is dangerous.' Republicans and a smattering of Democrats also moved successfully in the Senate to exempt single-family home rentals not owned by a real estate development trust or company, carving out a sizable chunk of landlords from the potential cap. Advocates argued the Senate's changes 'gutted' the legislation. The compromise measure removes the single-family home exemption. Through the process, lawmakers had also moved to exempt new buildings from the cap for their first 15 years. Negotiators dropped that period down to 12 years in the new plan. The legislation would still expire after 15 years, as the Senate had proposed. The House and Senate could vote on the new version of House Bill 1217 as soon as Friday evening. The legislative session is slated to end Sunday. If both chambers pass the bill and the governor signs it, the policy would go into effect immediately. Democrats last year pushed for such a cap on rent increases, only to have moderate members of their own party and Republicans block progress. They believe a known limit on increases would provide stability to renters who could be forced out of their homes by steep rent hikes. 'I think this is life-changing legislation for a lot of families across Washington state,' said House Housing Committee Chair Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds. Republicans have argued the cap would force builders out of the state and put landlords in a bind as they struggle to keep up with inflationary maintenance costs and property taxes. On Thursday, conservative lawmakers expressed frustration about being shut out of the negotiating process, and continued to decry the proposal. 'I do believe that the policy that's before me tonight is going to be devastating for our housing providers, and we need housing providers to be a part of the solution in the housing crisis that we have,' said Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens. Through all the debates on what is, perhaps, the most contentious policy bill of the legislative session, Gov. Bob Ferguson has remained mum on his feelings about it. The negotiated bill otherwise contains many of the provisions included in earlier iterations. For example, landlords also could not raise rent by any amount in the first 12 months of a tenancy. If landlords violate the new law, tenants or the state attorney general's office could bring litigation. Buildings owned by nonprofits or public housing authorities would be exempt from the limits. The same goes for duplexes, triplexes or fourplexes if the owner lives in one of the units. The legislation also looks to cap rent increases at 5% per year for manufactured home tenants.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Rent increase cap approved by Washington House
An apartment building under construction in Olympia, Washington in January 2025. Critics of a proposal to cap rent increases in Washington argue that it could stifle new development. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard) A bill to cap yearly rent increases cleared the Washington state House on Monday following a spirited debate on whether such limits will bring greater security for tenants or higher prices and fewer options for those in need of housing House Bill 1217 would prohibit landlords from raising a residential tenant's rent and fees more than 7% in any 12-month period or by any amount during the first year after the tenancy begins. It would also require landlords to give 90 days' notice before any rent increase takes effect and would bar them from charging more than a 5% difference in rent for similar leased units. There are several exceptions to the cap, including buildings operated by nonprofits and residential construction that is 12 years old or less. Rent increase limits would not apply for tenants of triplexes and fourplexes if the owner lives in one of the units. Changes approved Monday include eliminating the proposed cap on move-in fees for residential rental units. Earlier versions limited the amount to no more than one month's rent. The bill keeps in place caps on move-in fees for manufactured housing. Also, an earlier version required renters to receive a six-month notice of any increase. Supporters argue that stabilizing rents will provide people with predictability in their expenses to help them stay in their housing and avoid homelessness. They called it a modest and balanced approach to help renters as the supply of affordable housing grows. 'It is a really strong policy,' said Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, who led negotiations with Republicans on the version that reached the floor. 'Keeping the rent increase limit at seven percent will be a huge impact for renters across the state.' The bill contains an emergency clause. If enacted, the provisions will take effect immediately. 'Supply takes time to get going,' said Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, chair of the House Housing Committee. 'The people that are suffering are the people that are seeing 20, 30, 40, 50% rent increases.' Opponents say the bill will hurt small landlords and owners of older buildings who will not be able to keep up with inflationary costs for maintenance and other expenses if rents are limited. It also will deter construction of new apartments and multi-family complexes, critics argue. 'Renters are frustrated. Those concerns are absolutely real,' said Rep. April Connors R-Kennewick. 'Rent control is not the answer. This bill will not stabilize the market. It is going to choke off housing supply. Economists all agree this is not a housing solution. It is a self-inflicted economic wound.' 'This policy is the wrong policy. The policy that we need is supply,' said Rep. Sam Low, R-Lake Stevens, who is also a Snohomish County Council member. 'We're not going to see housing providers provide any more housing with these terrible policies.' House Bill 1217 passed on a 53-42 vote with five Democrats joining 37 Republicans to oppose it. Democrats rejected several amendments proposed by Republicans, including one to set the cap at 10% plus the consumer price index for the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue metropolitan area. There was also a failed amendment to prevent cities and counties from imposing their own rent increase caps. The bill now heads to the Senate where a similar bill lapsed in the chamber last year. Prospects are much improved this year with a Democratic caucus that has grown in number while shedding two moderate members opposed to rent caps. Last month, the Senate Housing Committee, the panel that killed the policy in 2024, approved the Senate companion bill to the House legislation.
