Protect Seniors, Veterans, Single Parents From Homelessness, and Pass Rent Stabilization Bill

As your constituent, I see how drastic rent increases lead to evictions, community instability, and homelessness. Even a rent increase of 10% or more can drive people out of their homes.

To stop more homelessness, we must stabilize rent for people now while we build additional affordable housing.

I strongly support rent stabilization bills HB 2114 and SB 5961. These bills will protect 1,000,000 Washington households by:

• Providing rent predictability and stability for working families, seniors and people with disabilities.
• Protecting both manufactured homeowners who must lease the land their home is on, and residential tenants.
• Requiring landlords provide six months notice for rent increases of 3% or more.
• Stabilizing rents by keeping rent increases to 5% or less annually.
• Counting fees as rent for the purposes of the increase, capping late fees at $10 and all move-in fees to no more than one month’s rent.
• Allowing tenants to end their lease and move if rent increases 3% or more.
• Prohibiting different treatment of month-to-month leases than fixed-term leases in terms of rent levels and fees.
• Provide tools to tenants faced with unlawful rent increases or other violations of their rights such as enforcement with a private right of action, penalties or through action by the State’s Attorney General’s Office.
• Create a landlord resource center to support landlords with model leases, state resources and important updates.
• These bills exempt newly built properties from the certificate of occupancy through 10 years, and it exempts nonprofit owned affordable housing whose rent increases are already addressed by their fund source.

Please respond to my email and let me know if I can count on your support for HB 2114/SB 5961.