OLYMPIA, WA – House Bill 1217, which established annual rent caps for the first time in state history, came after years of mobile homeowner organizing and advocacy.
Reaction to Washington’s new rent stabilization law depends on where you stand on the issue.
In May, Washington adopted an unprecedented 5% annual limit on rent increases for manufactured homeowners.
Mobile home residents and housing advocates are feeling relieved after Governor Bob Ferguson signed House Bill 1217 into law, which introduced annual caps on rent increases for the first time in the state’s history.
This comes after years of advocacy and organizing from mobile homeowners across the state, often in response to large property management companies or private equity firms purchasing their parks … and raising rents year after year.
Housing developers and landlords repeatedly pushed back against the rental increase cap, arguing that it limited their ability to keep up with costs or see a return on investments.
They say that would undermine efforts to expand much-needed housing in the state.
The Washington Low Income Housing Alliance says “literally hundreds of thousands of dollars” were spent by lobbyists and corporations to oppose the bill.
To read more about the reaction to the new law, click here.
