Bill > HB1656

This bill aims to protect tenants in residential tenancies in Washington state. The key provisions are: 1. It prohibits landlords from evicting or terminating a tenancy without a specific "just cause" reason, such as non-payment of rent or material breach of the rental agreement. This is intended to provide greater housing stability for tenants. 2. It requires landlords to apply any tenant payments first towards rent before applying them to other fees or charges. It also prohibits landlords from conditioning continued tenancy on the tenant paying any monetary amounts other than rent. 3. It places restrictions on landlords' ability to unreasonably restrict immediate family members from residing with a tenant. 4. It enhances requirements for landlords to provide documentation when withholding a tenant's security deposit, and provides penalties for non-compliance. The bill is intended to address the state's affordable housing crisis and the disproportionate impact of "no-cause" evictions on vulnerable populations. The cause eviction protections are modeled after laws in other states like New Jersey and New Hampshire.

Justice

https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1656&Year=2019&Initiative=false