Washington became the first state in the nation to pass statewide Right to Counsel legislation in 2021. This ensures that low-income renters have access to a lawyer to help them navigate the complex and overwhelming eviction process, as well as to represent them in court. Since this program started, 81 percent of tenants who have been helped by the program have maintained permanent housing after facing an eviction.

Evictions are destabilizing for families who need a safe place to call home, and for the communities where they live. Of the 22,889 tenants who have benefitted from the Right to Counsel program since 2022, 45% of tenants identified as Black, indigenous, or people of color, and 39% of tenants had a disability. Both groups of people are disproportionately represented as being at risk of an eviction.

Evictions make it harder for households to find their next home. This can create a barrier that ripples across our communities and adds to the number of people who are at risk of homelessness.

To ensure that the Right to Counsel program can respond to the needs of households and communities, as evictions have grown to record levels across the state, the operating budget should increase funding for the program. The state should invest $3.9 million in state fiscal year 2026 and $4.9 million in state fiscal year 2027 to add capacity to the Right to Counsel program.

Key Points:

Washington has been above the historical averages for eviction filings since July 2023, and according to data from UC Berkeley, 1 in every 50 renters in Washington faced an eviction in the past 12 months.

Washington reached a historic high number of evictions beginning in November 2024, and evictions continued to climb and break records in a number of counties in December. (Source: Eviction Research Network at https://evictionresearch.net/washington/)

Evictions disproportionately impact households with children and households that include members who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. According to a report presented in a December 2024 Senate work session by Peter Hepburn from The Eviction Lab:

• In national data before the COVID pandemic, 40% of those directly impacted by eviction were children.
• 18.8% of all renters directly impacted by eviction were Black.
• 51.1% of all eviction filings impacted Black renters.

In addition, studies have found that eviction causes a number of negative repercussions for household members, including physical and mental health problems, future housing instability, education and life expectancy impacts for children, and an overall increase in the likelihood of homelessness.

Making sure that rules and laws are clear and fair, so that tenants can have peace of mind, freedom to plan for the future, and safe, healthy homes is the fourth key policy element in our "Roadmap to Housing Justice". Learn more at wliha.org/roadmap