For Immediate Release: Friday, April 25, 2025
Contact: Kristin Hyde, 206-491-0773, kristin@powerhouse-strategic.com

Advocates for affordable housing implore lawmakers to rethink compromise on rent stabilization

Olympia, WA -- HB 1217 is up for final passage votes in the Washington State House and Senate. After a long journey and clear requests from advocates across the state to pass a bill with no more than a 7% allowable rent increase, advocates are disappointed and worried about the impact this bill will have on residential renters for whom other protections were stripped from the bill during its long legislative journey.

House members on Wednesday rejected amendments by the Senate that would have been even more harmful, and a conference committee appointed by both chambers released a conference committee bill. The bill passed by the conference committee on Thursday night would;

• Allow yearly rent increases on residential renters of 7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is less - reversing a previously passed senate floor amendment that raised the limit to 10% + CPI without any cap;
• Restore protection for renters in single family homes - reversing a senate floor amendment that stripped them of any protection;
• Exempt new development for 12 years - reversing a senate ways and means amendment that extended it to 15 years;
• Limit yearly rent increases on manufactured homeowners of 5% and also cap move-in fees and late fees for homeowners;
• Allow enforcement through a private right of action or through the Attorney General's Office;
• And sunset the residential renter section of the bill in 15 years.

The full conference committee report, and a chart comparing the different versions can be found on the legislative bill page.

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 people with evictions, displacement and homelessness. Rents across the state are out of reach and every rent increase causes more instability. The 7% in the bill was already a compromise, with many renters telling us it was the highest they could afford. Because the conference committee bill significantly raises the cap above 7%, we are afraid that it will not result in the stability that we fought for. I ask lawmakers to look into their hearts and ask if this truly was the best they could do for renters, and if so why? When so many lawmakers in both chambers stood firm on a stronger bill, why was this required at the last minute?"

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 and Senator Alvarado, Senator Trudeau, Senator Bateman and Representative Peterson and many, many other lawmakers have worked tirelessly to ensure the bill has meaningful protections.

In order to placate the real estate and landlord lobby, this final bill includes harmful compromises. A large coalition of renters, manufactured homeowners, unions and organizations across the state fought hard for much stronger protections than this bill offers. Seniors and people with disabilities on a fixed income, low income workers and families with children won't be able to withstand rent increases above 7%. People will be forced into an oftentimes fruitless search for cheaper rent, disrupting their lives and some will have no option but to face eviction or move into cars, shelters, or tents.

Creating sensible limits on rent increases shouldn't have been this hard, but some of the lobbying entities with the largest campaign contributions spent hundreds of thousands in the last months alone in attempts to kill or weaken the bill. Sadly, although many lawmakers have been elected in recent years who deeply support housing justice, there are still a small but powerful handful who are blocking real progress.

Rent stabilization is not controversial or divisive for Washington voters, and in these final days of session we implore lawmakers to remember what their constituents have been demanding - a real rent stabilization policy that will keep all renters in their homes.

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.  

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