Rent Control In Washington? State Rep. Wants To Make It Happen

SEATTLE, WA - Imagine not worrying about how much your rent might increase at the end of your lease? A Seattle lawmaker wants to repeal the state's law banning rent control, which would allow cities to start regulating rent increases.

Washington banned rent control in 1981 following a Seattle ban that passed by initiative in 1980. State Rep. Nicole Macri, D-Seattle, said Tuesday the effort will take a lot of work and has barely been attempted over the last 36 years.

"There has been one bill that has been dropped since 1981 to attempt that repeal back in 1999," she said Tuesday outside a landlord convention at the Washington State Convention Center. "We are past the time to bring this fight on for real."

Macri's comments were part of a larger demonstration organized by the Washington Community Action Network. On Tuesday morning, protesters went inside the convention to plead with the property managers to help make renting affordable. Some protesters were escorted out by security.

Rent control is in place in large cities like New York and San Francisco. Although laws differ, rent control generally restricts how much landlords can increase rent each year.

Rents in Seattle and around Puget Sound have soared over the past decade, worsening the region's homelessness epidemic. In 2017, rent in Seattle increased by about 8 percent compared to 2016. In Tacoma, rents increased by 16 percent between 2015 and 2016, according to Zillow.

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