OLYMPIA, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Gov. Bob Ferguson has signed a rent stabilization bill into law.

HB 1217 limits annual rent increases to 7% plus inflation, or 10%, whichever is lower. Rents on mobile or manufactured homes is capped at 5% per year.

The bill also prohibits rent increases during the first year of a lease, and landlords have to give tenants 90 days’ notice before increasing their rent.

The bill’s original wording capped rent at 7% but a Senate amendment added the inflation or 10% provision. Another Senate amendment excluded single family homes from the rent cap.

Beginning June 1, the Department of Commerce will make an annual determination of the allowable rent increase percentage.