Rent payment reporting

AN ACT Relating to facilitating positive rent payment information 1
to consumer reporting agencies at tenant request; adding a new 2
chapter to Title 59 RCW; and providing an expiration date.3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The definitions in this section apply 5
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 6
otherwise.7
(1) "Consumer reporting agency" has the meaning set forth in 15 8
U.S.C. Sec. 1681a(f). 9
(2) "Contractor" means the contractor with which the department 10
contracts to administer the pilot program pursuant to section 2 (2) of 11
this act. 12
(3) "Department" means the department of financial institutions.13
(4) "Dwelling unit" has the same meaning as in RCW 59.18.030.14
(5) "Landlord" has the same meaning as in RCW 59.18.030.15
(6) "Participant landlord" means a landlord who has agreed in 16
writing to participate in the pilot program and has satisfied the 17
requirements described in section 2(3)(b) of this act.18
(7) "Participant tenant" means a tenant who has elected to 19
participate in the pilot program, has satisfied the requirements 20
H-1261.1
HOUSE BILL 1927
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Hill, Peterson, Simmons, Ormsby, Parshley, Macri,
and Davis
Read first time 02/10/25. Referred to Committee on Housing.
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described in section 2 (4) of this act, and whose landlord is a 1
participant landlord. 2
(8) "Pilot program" means the rent credit reporting pilot program 3
created in section 2 of this act. 4
(9) "Rent payment information" means information concerning a 5
tenant's timely payment of rent, untimely payment of rent, or 6
nonpayment of rent. "Rent payment information" does not include 7
information concerning a tenant's payment or nonpayment of any fees.8
(10) "Tenant" has the same meaning as in RCW 59.18.030.9
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The rent credit reporting pilot 10
program is created to facilitate the reporting of participant 11
tenants' rent payment information to consumer reporting agencies.12
(2) On or before December 1, 2025, the department shall contract 13
with a third party to administer the pilot program. The contractor 14
shall administer the pilot program in accordance with this chapter 15
and rules promulgated by the department pursuant to section 3 of this 16
act. 17
(3)(a) On and after December 15, 2025, the contractor, in 18
consultation with the department, shall recruit no more than 10 19
participant landlords and, to the extent practicable, shall attempt 20
to include a total of at least 100 participant tenants, with an 21
emphasis on selecting participant tenants from populations that are 22
underserved and underrepresented in home ownership. To the extent 23
practicable, the contractor shall recruit participant landlords who 24
offer: 25
(i) A variety of types of dwelling units for rent, including 26
dwelling units of various sizes; 27
(ii) Dwelling units for rent that are located in diverse areas of 28
the state; and 29
(iii) At least five dwelling units for rent. 30
(b) In order to become a participant landlord, a landlord must 31
agree in writing: 32
(i) To participate in the pilot program for at least 14 months, 33
but the department shall not require a landlord to report a 34
participant tenant's rent payment information under the pilot program 35
after April 1, 2028; 36
(ii) Not to charge a participant tenant for participation in the 37
pilot program; 38
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(iii) To comply with rules promulgated by the department pursuant 1
to section 3 of this act; and 2
(iv) To provide information, to the extent practicable, to the 3
department and the contractor concerning the execution of the program 4
for the purpose of informing the report described in section 4 of 5
this act. 6
(c) The contractor may work with statewide or national 7
associations of landlords to identify potential participant 8
landlords. 9
(d) The contractor shall support and work with landlords to 10
recruit tenants to participate in the pilot program.11
(4) A tenant may participate in the pilot program only if the 12
tenant agrees to participate in writing. 13
(5) On and after December 15, 2025, the contractor shall:14
(a) Provide education to participant landlords and potential 15
participant landlords concerning the requirements of participation in 16
the pilot program; and 17
(b) Provide information to participant landlords to help recruit 18
participant tenants including, at a minimum, information concerning 19
how to participate in the pilot program. 20
(6) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this 21
specific purpose, participant landlords that satisfy the requirements 22
described in subsection (3)(b) of this section may be eligible to 23
receive reimbursement for reasonable expenses incurred by the 24
landlord due to participation in the pilot program. Such 25
reimbursement must be paid to participant landlords in accordance 26
with rules established by the department pursuant to section 3 of 27
this act. 28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. On or before December 1, 2025, the 29
department shall establish rules for the administration of the pilot 30
program. At a minimum, the rules must:31
(1) Ensure that each participant landlord reports only rent 32
payment information concerning a participant tenant's payment of rent 33
after the date upon which the participant tenant elected to 34
participate in the pilot program; 35
(2) Establish amounts, schedules, and other terms of 36
reimbursement for participant landlords pursuant to section 2 (6) of 37
this act; and 38
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(3) Establish a standard form for participant tenants to use to 1
elect to participate or cease participating in the pilot program, 2
which standard form may be electronic and must include:3
(a) A statement that the participant tenant's participation in 4
the pilot program is voluntary and that a participant tenant may 5
cease participating in the pilot program at any time and for any 6
reason by providing notice to the participant tenant's participant 7
landlord; 8
(b) A statement that all of the participant tenant's rent 9
payments may be reported, regardless of whether the payments are 10
timely, late, or missed, and that reporting may commence within 30 11
days after the participant tenant elects to participate in the pilot 12
program; 13
(c) A statement that if the participant tenant elects to cease 14
participating in the pilot program, the participant tenant may not 15
resume participating in the pilot program; 16
(d) Instructions describing how to elect to cease participating 17
in the pilot program; and 18
(e) A signature block where the participant tenant may sign and 19
date the form. 20
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) On or before July 1, 2028, and in 21
compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the department, in consultation with 22
the contractor, shall submit to the legislature a report concerning 23
the pilot program. At a minimum, the report must indicate:24
(a) The number of participant landlords, including an indication 25
as to whether more than 10 landlords expressed an interest in 26
participating; 27
(b) The number of participant tenants, including the number of 28
participant tenants who ceased participating in the pilot program;29
(c) The demographics of participant tenants, including race, 30
ethnicity, gender, income, and age, as may be voluntarily provided by 31
participant tenants; 32
(d) The cost of administering the pilot program;33
(e) The number of residential properties offered by each 34
landlord; 35
(f) For each participant landlord: 36
(i) The nature of the reporting mechanism used to report 37
participant tenants' rent payment information to consumer reporting 38
agencies; and 39
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(ii) The city and county of each property offered by the 1
participant landlord; 2
(g) A short narrative of challenges faced by participant 3
landlords and participant tenants during the pilot program; and4
(h) A simple assessment of how the pilot program, in aggregate, 5
positively or negatively affected participating tenants' credit.6
(2) In addition to the information described in subsection (1) of 7
this section, the report may include any recommendations of the 8
department concerning the continuation or repeal of the pilot 9
program. 10
(3) The department shall make the report described in subsection 11
(1) of this section available on its public website for at least one 12
year after the department submits the report. 13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. This act may be known and cited as the 14
rent credit reporting pilot program act.15
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act expires July 1, 2029.16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. Sections 1 through 6 of this act 17
constitute a new chapter in Title 59 RCW.18
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