Passage of House Bill 1217

Olympia, WA - Tonight, the Washington State House of Representatives passed Second Substitute House Bill 1217 by a vote of 53-42.

The vote was mostly along party lines with five Democrats voting down the much-debated bill along with every House Republican present for the vote.

2SHB 1217, also known as the Rent Control bill, will require housing providers to limit yearly rent increases to seven percent, while capping manufactured housing communities late fees and limiting total move in costs to no more than one months' rent. Opponents of the bill argue this will drive providers from the market especially small “mom and pop’s” who provide much of the below market naturally occurring affordable housing.

“This is a self-inflicted economic wound,” said Representative April Connors a Republican from District 8 while she discussed the millions of dollars in lost sales and property taxes from developers choosing to build in other states like Idaho and Arizona.

“This will greatly affect every single one of our members,” said Sean Flynn, Executive Director of the Rental Housing Association of Washington. “When our members sell their units, those can no longer be affordable units. Many of our members have provided housing for decades in our state and when they sell, those homes leave the rental pool for a generation. Washington needs to keep the rental units already available while concurrently working to build more housing”

Supporters of the bill claim these stipulations will help keep Washington tenants housed and create more housing stability all while having no detrimental effects on housing production or supply of rental units available.

The next stop for this bill will be the Washington State Senate and RHAWA is calling on our members and concerned members of the public to contact their Senators to ardently express how this bill will make the housing crisis in Washington far worse.

For more information about the 2SHB 1217, please visit SmartHousingSolutionsWA.org

About Rental Housing Association of Washington 
With more than 5,000 members, RHAWA provides resources and advocacy to small to mid-size rental housing providers. Our goal is to support members and the community in building a healthy housing economy for all. RHAWA is a not-for-profit organization and provides its members with a full range of products and services including tenant screening, leasing forms, and education.

Press Contact:    Melissa Canfield   |   mcanfield@RHAwa.org   |   (206) 905-0615