The Washington state legislature has passed EHB 1217, a residential rent control bill that limits annual rent increases to 10% plus the Consumer Price Index. The bill requires that landlords give tenants 90 days' notice before increasing rent, and limits fees and security deposits. NAIOP Washington State and its members actively opposed the measure by submitting testimony, speaking at committee hearings and holding a legislative day at the state capitol. They also joined the BuildUp Washington coalition to educate lawmakers on the bill’s negative housing impact.

Washington has a serious housing shortage and rent control bills like this one will be counterproductive to the goal of building more housing, instead incentivizing apartment-hoarding, disincentivizing capital investment, and increasing rent costs overall.

The bill now returns to the House for acceptance of Senate changes, which includes raising the rent cap from 7% to 10% and sunsetting of the rent cap after 15 years of enactment, before heading to the governor's desk for his signature.