Washington Apartment Association (WAA)
Legislative Report
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Dear WAA Members:
The last day of the 60 day session was on Thursday, March 13, 2014. Below is a recap of the bills that we have been tracking.
WAA Supported Bills:
SB 6143 – Establishing ONE Explicit Warranty of Habitability:
A recent court decision (Landis & Landis Constr., LLC v. Nation) held that RLTA laws requiring a tenant to notify a landlord of a defect do not apply, and that a landlord does not have to be given an opportunity by the tenant to cure a defect prior to a tenant terminating a term lease. This overrules 40 years under the RLTA. (Senators Padden, Sheldon)
SB STATUS:Dead (House Judiciary Committee)
HB 1520 – Deceased Tenant Property:
This bill would create a process for landlords for the disposal of a residential tenant's personal property in the event of the tenant's death. (Representatives Shea, Rodne, Pedersen, O'Ban, Ryu)
SB STATUS:Dead (House Judiciary Committee)
SB 5280 – YVLA Bill Addressing Unlawful Activities on Rental Properties:
This bill would allow occupants that are not on the lease agreements to be removed from the property under trespass laws by polics. The bill would also make local governments through law enforcement responsible for making good faith attempts to inform property owners when criminal activity is taking place on their premises. (Senators Carrell, King, Holmquist Newbry, Padden, Becker, Sheldon, Rivers, Tom, Bailey, Roach, Honeyford)
SB STATUS:Dead (Senate Law & Justice Committee
SB 6313/HB2368 – Surcharge for Homeless Housing:
This bill would makes the $40 local homeless housing and assistance document recording surcharge permanent. At least 45% of the funds received by Commerce must be used for private rental vouchers. Commerce's reporting requirements under this fee are extended from 2017 to 2020. If Commerce fails to meet its reporting requirements, the Treasurer may not authorize the use of the funds received from this fee. (Senators Darneille, Kohl-Welles, Hobbs, Chase, Conway, Hasegawa, Frockt, McCoy, McAuliffe, Rolfes, Nelson & Representatives Sawyer, Walsh, Gregerson, Jinkins, Orwall, Robinson, Bergquist, Reykdal, Hansen, Van De Wege, Goodman, Sullivan, S. Hunt, Pettigrew, Ryu, Kagi, Lytton, Tarleton, Freeman, Ormsby, Walkinshaw, Morrell, Pollet, Appleton, Riccelli)
SB STATUS:Dead (Senate Ways & Means)
HB STATUS:Dead (Senate Financial Institutions and Housing & Insurance Committee)
SB 65875 – Surcharge for Homeless Housing:
Mark Gjurasic, Terry Kohl, and I worked with lawmakers in the waning days of session on a compromise that would extend badly needed funding for homeless housing for children and families. This funding source has always been meant to be a temporary means of providing for this fundamental state need for the most vulnerable among us. And while the sunsetting of this fee would leave many at risk families without the basic requirement for housing, the State still needs to look at a permanent solution for caring for these people. This bill will provide time for the Legislature to look at alternatives and find the best possible solution to help homeless families.
This bill as passed by the two Houses of the Legislature extended the $40 local homeless housing and assistance document recording surcharge through June 30, 2019. This was a bipartisan effort with Rep. Sawyer in the House and Senators Benton and Angel in the Senate coming together to find a workable solution.
The bill also requires 45 percent of the funds received by Commerce (the state's non-administrative allotment of the surcharge fee revenue) to be set aside for private rental housing vouchers to provide directly for homeless family housing. The bill provides for an annual independent audit of the expenditure of the document recording fee revenue and an independent performance audit of the programs funded by all surcharge revenues.
(Senators Darneille, Kohl-Welles, Hobbs, Chase, Conway, Hasegawa, Frockt, McCoy, McAuliffe, Rolfes, Nelson & Representatives Sawyer, Walsh, Gregerson, Jinkins, Orwall, Robinson, Bergquist, Reykdal, Hansen, Van De Wege, Goodman, Sullivan, S. Hunt, Pettigrew, Ryu, Kagi, Lytton, Tarleton, Freeman, Ormsby, Walkinshaw, Morrell, Pollet, Appleton, Riccelli)
SB STATUS:Effective date 6/12/2014
WAA Opposed Bills – According to Bill Numbers:
HB 2401 – Long-Life Smoke Alarms:
This bill would mandate the replacement of all smoke detectors with units whose battery life exceeds 10-years. Properly maintained smoke alarms are highly effective in preventing and alerting to fire. This is an enforcement issue not one of product deficiency. The duties created in this bill are unclear and there is no limit on the liability of the landlords. (Representatives Takko, Johnson, Fitzgibbon, Ryu, Van De Wege, Tarleton)
HB STATUS:Dead (House Local Government Committee)
SB 6291/HB 2537 – Portability of Tenant Screening Reports:
This bill would mandate landlords to accept a “comprehensive” tenant screening report or else a landlord would not be allowed to charge for their own screening. Rental Housing Industry is in the business of providing safe and affordable housing for Washington families. Rental Owners have a duty to protect their tenants and keep them safe from harm. Landlords have a right to trustworthy data to accurately screen potential tenants. We do know that there will be further discussions on this issue after session for possibly a compromise bill for the 2015 session. We thank the various tenant screen groups – West and Eastside of the state for providing testimony during the hearing. (Senators Frockt, Kohl-Welles, Kline, Hasegawa, Hobbs, Darneille, Keiser, Ranker, Chase, Conway, Pedersen & Representatives Robinson, Appleton, Jinkins, Stanford, Riccelli, Pollet, Santos)
SB STATUS:Dead (Senate Financial Institutions and Housing & Insurance Committee)
HB STATUS:Dead (Senate Financial Institutions and Housing & InsuranceCommittee)
SB 6292 – Tenant Relocation Assistance and 90-Day Rent Increase Notice:
Under the bill, landlords must provide tenants with 90 days' written notice for any new rule of tenancy, including a change in the amount of rent charged. Additionally, tenant relocation assistance would be available for tenants whose household earns up to 80% of the area's median income, up from 50%. (Senators Kohl-Welles, Frockt, Chase, Hasegawa, Conway, Keiser)
SB STATUS:Dead (Senate Financial Institutions and Housing & Insurance Committee)
WAA Neutral/Monitoring Bills:
2SHB 1651 – Sealing Juvenile Records:
Mark Gjurasic and Chester Baldwin worked with Senator O’Ban to draft the language that would allow landlords to continue to have access to the juvenile records of youth who are found to have committed serious offenses and drug crimes other than simple possession. Our language also gives youth the opportunity to earn the sealing of their juvenile record by providing for only the first and possibly a second offense to be sealed…and only after their 18th birthdays.
This bill willschedule a court hearing on all juvenile cases to rule on sealing the juvenile records for first and some second time offenses unless the juvenile has been adjudicated for the offenses listed above. These hearings will be open to the public and will give interested parties or the judge the opportunity to object to the sealing of a particular juvenile’s records. This allows landlords to be involved in the process if they so choose.
The court may release juvenile records for inspection upon good cause show. This bill was negotiated with landlords and was amended several times to find a middle ground that all sides could live with. Sen O’Ban worked hard for landlords to find a solution we were ok with.
(Representatives Kagi, Walsh, Freeman, Roberts, Farrell, Zeiger, Goodman, Pollet, Sawyer, Appleton, Bergquist, S. Hunt, Moscoso, Jinkins, Ryu, Morrell)
HB STATUS:Effective date 6/12/2014
Many thanks.
Mark GjurasicChester Baldwin, Attorney at Law
Public Affairs of Washington, LLCPublic Affairs of Washington, LLC
(360) 481-6000(360) 688-4588
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