Rent Control

Gov. Bob Ferguson signed the bill on Wednesday, it takes effect immediately and will not allow for hikes of more than 10% in a year.

On Sunday, the state House and Senate passed the House Bill 1217, which limits rent increase for manufactured homes to 5% per year. The bill now heads to the governor's desk.

The Washington state House and Senate on Sunday, the last day of the legislative session, passed the rent increase limit at 7% plus inflation or 10%, whichever is lower.

Senators were set to approve the legislation Friday night. With less than two days to go in the session, an issue with the bill’s title is making them wait.

Washington’s proposed rent stabilization bill faces uncertainty after Senate amendments weakened key protections, raising allowable rent increases and exempting single-family homes, as advocates push for stronger tenant protections before the legislative session ends.

The legislation moved forward in the House with Democratic party approval.

The bill would limit annual price hikes for residential tenants to no more than 7% a year. It next goes to the state Senate.

The basic idea behind rent control is it protects tenants by imposing limits on what landlords can charge. So why would the state ban rent control in the first place?

Hundreds of tenants and renters' rights advocates gathered outside the Normandy Apartment building in Northeast Portland Saturday to protest a rent increase slated to go into effect on April 1.