Corp. homeowner registration

AN ACT Relating to the registration of certain corporations and 1
trusts that own single-family homes and condominium units; reenacting 2
and amending RCW 43.79A.040 and 43.79A.040; adding a new chapter to 3
Title 19 RCW; providing effective dates; and providing an expiration 4
date. 5
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:6
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the acquisition 7
of single-family homes and condominiums by private equity firms, real 8
estate investment trusts, and other corporate entities is rapidly 9
increasing in Washington, accounting for 22 percent of single-family 10
home purchases in Washington in 2022, a 102 percent increase from 11
2020. The legislature further finds that corporate buyers often 12
target lower-priced starter homes, typically located in neighborhoods 13
with higher concentrations of families of color, working individuals, 14
and single parent families. Leveraging significant financial 15
advantages, such as purchasing homes with cash, these entities 16
outcompete individual buyers and remove homes from the market, 17
reducing opportunities for homeownership and increasing the risk of 18
neighborhood displacement and gentrification. Once acquired, these 19
properties are often converted into rental units or sold in bulk to 20
S-0734.2
SENATE BILL 5580
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Orwall, Alvarado, Frame, Hasegawa, Lovelett, Nobles,
Ramos, Saldaña, Shewmake, Trudeau, Valdez, and C. Wilson
Read first time 01/30/25. Referred to Committee on Housing.
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other entities, permanently reducing the supply of affordable housing 1
available for individual ownership. 2
This trend is making a profound impact on Washington's housing 3
market with rapidly rising housing costs, diminishing affordability, 4
and increasing challenges for first-time and lower-income buyers 5
disproportionately impacting working-class families and communities 6
of color. 7
The legislature finds that transparency is essential to 8
understanding the dynamics of Washington's housing market and 9
responding effectively to its challenges. While progress has been 10
made through local rental registries, there remains a critical gap in 11
tracking and analyzing the scale, nature, and impact of corporate and 12
institutional ownership, particularly in the single-family housing 13
sector. Currently, no centralized system exists to monitor these 14
ownership patterns statewide. 15
To address this gap, the legislature intends to establish a 16
corporate homeowner registration program within the office of the 17
secretary of state. This program will require corporate entities to 18
report ownership structures, property uses, and other basic 19
information, ensuring accurate and timely data collection. This data 20
will provide policymakers, local governments, and the public with the 21
tools needed to make informed, evidence-based decisions to preserve 22
housing affordability, equity, and accessibility across the state.23
This act constitutes an exercise of the state's responsibility to 24
protect and promote the health, safety, and welfare of Washington's 25
residents. As such, it is intended to foster fairness and 26
transparency in the housing market, mitigate the negative impacts of 27
monopolistic ownership, and support measures to close the racial 28
wealth gap and housing affordability crisis. 29
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The corporate homeowner registration 30
program is established at the office of the secretary of state.31
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The definitions in this section apply 32
throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires 33
otherwise.34
(1) "Applicable housing unit" means a single-family residence or 35
a condominium unit. 36
(2) "Condominium" means real property, portions of which are 37
designated for separate ownership and the remainder of which is 38
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designated for common ownership solely by the owners of those 1
portions. Real property is not a condominium unless the undivided 2
interests in the common elements are vested in the unit owners, and 3
unless a declaration and a survey map and plans have been recorded 4
pursuant to chapter 64.34 RCW. 5
(3) "Corporation" or "domestic corporation" means a corporation 6
for profit, including a social purpose corporation, which is not a 7
foreign corporation, incorporated under or subject to the provisions 8
of Title 23B RCW. 9
(4) "Entity" means a foreign or domestic corporation, business 10
trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, 11
association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, 12
agency, or instrumentality. 13
(5) "Foreign corporation" means a corporation for profit 14
incorporated under a law other than the laws of this state.15
(6) "Program" means the corporate homeowner registration program.16
(7) "Real estate investment trust" means an entity that owns or 17
finances income-producing real estate as defined in 26 U.S.C Sec. 18
856. 19
(8) "Secretary" means the secretary of state, or their designee.20
(9) "Single-family residence" means a structure maintained and 21
used as a single dwelling unit. Notwithstanding that a dwelling unit 22
shares one or more walls with another dwelling unit, a dwelling unit 23
is a single-family residence if it has direct access to a street and 24
shares neither heating facilities nor hot water equipment, nor any 25
other essential facility or service, with any other dwelling unit.26
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) Entities with an ownership interest in 27
20 or more applicable housing units in the state of Washington shall 28
register with the program and report the following information:29
(a) Contact information for the entity including, but not limited 30
to, the following information: 31
(i) Name of the entity seeking registration; 32
(ii) Names under which the entity conducts business in the state 33
of Washington; 34
(iii) Business address; 35
(iv) Phone contact information; 36
(v) Electronic mail information; 37
(vi) Description of the ownership structure for the entity; and38
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(vii) Name, physical address of the entity's primary place of 1
business, and contact information for any corporation, partnership, 2
or other business entity that owns 10 percent or more of the entity;3
(b) Number of applicable housing units owned in Washington state;4
(c) Address for each applicable housing unit; 5
(d) The end use for each applicable housing unit, which may 6
include, but is not limited to, the following: 7
(i) Rental property; 8
(ii) Lease-purchase agreement, as defined in chapter 63.19 RCW; 9
or 10
(iii) Sale; 11
(e) Purchase price for each applicable housing unit; and12
(f) A list of states and countries that the entity does business 13
in. 14
(2) The secretary shall determine the registration fee by rule. 15
The fee revenue must be deposited into the corporate homeowner 16
transparency account created in section 5 of this act.17
(3)(a) The entity's registration must be updated within 60 days 18
after the sale is closed on any of the entity's applicable housing 19
units. 20
(b) Any change in information contained in an initial or renewal 21
registration application must be updated within 60 days.22
(4) The following entities are exempt from subsection (1) of this 23
section: 24
(a) Banks and financial institutions that have acquired 25
applicable housing units through foreclosure and possessed the 26
applicable housing units for less than 12 months; and27
(b) Build to rent units. 28
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The corporate homeowner transparency 29
account is created in the custody of the state treasurer. All 30
receipts from section 4 (2) of this act must be deposited into the 31
account. Expenditures from the account may be used only to administer 32
the registration of entities that own or are divesting applicable 33
housing units. The account is subject to allotment procedures under 34
chapter 43.88 RCW, but an appropriation is not required for 35
expenditures.36
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. The secretary may adopt any rules 37
necessary to implement this chapter.38
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Sec. 7. RCW 43.79A.040 and 2024 c 327 s 16 and 2024 c 168 s 10 1
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 2
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, 3
invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with 4
RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the 5
money were in the state treasury, and may be commingled with moneys 6
in the state treasury for cash management and cash balance purposes.7
(2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust 8
fund must be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be 9
known as the investment income account. 10
(3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment 11
of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds 12
including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and 13
disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state 14
agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to 15
chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to 16
financial institutions. Payments must occur prior to distribution of 17
earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.18
(4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer must distribute the earnings 19
credited to the investment income account to the state general fund 20
except under (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection.21
(b) The following accounts and funds must receive their 22
proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's 23
average daily balance for the period: The 24/7 sobriety account, the 24
Washington promise scholarship account, the Gina Grant Bull memorial 25
legislative page scholarship account, the Rosa Franklin legislative 26
internship program scholarship account, the Washington advanced 27
college tuition payment program account, the Washington college 28
savings program account, the accessible communities account, the 29
Washington achieving a better life experience program account, the 30
Washington career and college pathways innovation challenge program 31
account, the community and technical college innovation account, the 32
agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment 33
fund, the behavioral health loan repayment and scholarship program 34
account, the Billy Frank Jr. national statuary hall collection fund, 35
the foster care scholarship endowment fund, the foster care endowed 36
scholarship trust fund, the contract harvesting revolving account, 37
the Washington state combined fund drive account, the commemorative 38
works account, the county 911 excise tax account, the corporate 39
homeowner transparency account, the county road administration board 40
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emergency loan account, the toll collection account, the 1
developmental disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, 2
the energy facility site evaluation council account, the fair fund, 3
the family and medical leave insurance account, the Fern Lodge 4
maintenance account, the fish and wildlife federal lands revolving 5
account, the natural resources federal lands revolving account, the 6
food animal veterinarian conditional scholarship account, the forest 7
health revolving account, the fruit and vegetable inspection account, 8
the educator conditional scholarship account, the game farm 9
alternative account, the GET ready for math and science scholarship 10
account, the Washington global health technologies and product 11
development account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the 12
Washington history day account, the industrial insurance rainy day 13
fund, the juvenile accountability incentive account, the law 14
enforcement officers' and firefighters' plan 2 expense fund, the 15
local tourism promotion account, the low-income home rehabilitation 16
account, the medication for people living with HIV rebate revenue 17
account, the homeowner recovery account, the multiagency permitting 18
team account, the northeast Washington wolf-livestock management 19
account, the pollution liability insurance program trust account, the 20
produce railcar pool account, the public use general aviation airport 21
loan revolving account, the regional transportation investment 22
district account, the rural rehabilitation account, the Washington 23
sexual assault kit account, the stadium and exhibition center 24
account, the youth athletic facility account, the self-insurance 25
revolving fund, the children's trust fund, the Washington horse 26
racing commission Washington bred owners' bonus fund and breeder 27
awards account, the Washington horse racing commission class C purse 28
fund account, the individual development account program account, the 29
Washington horse racing commission operating account, the life 30
sciences discovery fund, the Washington state library-archives 31
building account, the reduced cigarette ignition propensity account, 32
the center for deaf and hard of hearing youth account, the school for 33
the blind account, the Millersylvania park trust fund, the public 34
employees' and retirees' insurance reserve fund, the school 35
employees' benefits board insurance reserve fund, the public 36
employees' and retirees' insurance account, the school employees' 37
insurance account, the long-term services and supports trust account, 38
the radiation perpetual maintenance fund, the Indian health 39
improvement reinvestment account, the department of licensing tuition 40
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recovery trust fund, the student achievement council tuition recovery 1
trust fund, the tuition recovery trust fund, the industrial insurance 2
premium refund account, the mobile home park relocation fund, the 3
natural resources deposit fund, the Washington state health insurance 4
pool account, the federal forest revolving account, the Washington 5
saves administrative treasury trust account, and the library 6
operations account. 7
(c) The following accounts and funds must receive 80 percent of 8
their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or 9
fund's average daily balance for the period: The advance right-of-way 10
revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving 11
account, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high 12
occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, 13
and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.14
(d) Any state agency that has independent authority over accounts 15
or funds not statutorily required to be held in the custody of the 16
state treasurer that deposits funds into a fund or account in the 17
custody of the state treasurer pursuant to an agreement with the 18
office of the state treasurer shall receive its proportionate share 19
of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance 20
for the period. 21
(5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state 22
Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings 23
without the specific affirmative directive of this section.24
Sec. 8. RCW 43.79A.040 and 2024 c 327 s 17 and 2024 c 168 s 11 25
are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:26
(1) Money in the treasurer's trust fund may be deposited, 27
invested, and reinvested by the state treasurer in accordance with 28
RCW 43.84.080 in the same manner and to the same extent as if the 29
money were in the state treasury, and may be commingled with moneys 30
in the state treasury for cash management and cash balance purposes.31
(2) All income received from investment of the treasurer's trust 32
fund must be set aside in an account in the treasury trust fund to be 33
known as the investment income account. 34
(3) The investment income account may be utilized for the payment 35
of purchased banking services on behalf of treasurer's trust funds 36
including, but not limited to, depository, safekeeping, and 37
disbursement functions for the state treasurer or affected state 38
agencies. The investment income account is subject in all respects to 39
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chapter 43.88 RCW, but no appropriation is required for payments to 1
financial institutions. Payments must occur prior to distribution of 2
earnings set forth in subsection (4) of this section.3
(4)(a) Monthly, the state treasurer must distribute the earnings 4
credited to the investment income account to the state general fund 5
except under (b), (c), and (d) of this subsection. 6
(b) The following accounts and funds must receive their 7
proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or fund's 8
average daily balance for the period: The 24/7 sobriety account, the 9
Washington promise scholarship account, the Gina Grant Bull memorial 10
legislative page scholarship account, the Rosa Franklin legislative 11
internship program scholarship account, the Washington advanced 12
college tuition payment program account, the Washington college 13
savings program account, the accessible communities account, the 14
Washington achieving a better life experience program account, the 15
Washington career and college pathways innovation challenge program 16
account, the community and technical college innovation account, the 17
agricultural local fund, the American Indian scholarship endowment 18
fund, the behavioral health loan repayment and scholarship program 19
account, the Billy Frank Jr. national statuary hall collection fund, 20
the foster care scholarship endowment fund, the foster care endowed 21
scholarship trust fund, the contract harvesting revolving account, 22
the Washington state combined fund drive account, the commemorative 23
works account, the county 911 excise tax account, the corporate 24
homeowner transparency account, the county road administration board 25
emergency loan account, the toll collection account, the 26
developmental disabilities endowment trust fund, the energy account, 27
the energy facility site evaluation council account, the fair fund, 28
the family and medical leave insurance account, the Fern Lodge 29
maintenance account, the fish and wildlife federal lands revolving 30
account, the natural resources federal lands revolving account, the 31
food animal veterinarian conditional scholarship account, the forest 32
health revolving account, the fruit and vegetable inspection account, 33
the educator conditional scholarship account, the game farm 34
alternative account, the GET ready for math and science scholarship 35
account, the Washington global health technologies and product 36
development account, the grain inspection revolving fund, the 37
Washington history day account, the industrial insurance rainy day 38
fund, the juvenile accountability incentive account, the law 39
enforcement officers' and firefighters' plan 2 expense fund, the 40
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local tourism promotion account, the low-income home rehabilitation 1
account, the medication for people living with HIV rebate revenue 2
account, the homeowner recovery account, the multiagency permitting 3
team account, the northeast Washington wolf-livestock management 4
account, the produce railcar pool account, the public use general 5
aviation airport loan revolving account, the regional transportation 6
investment district account, the rural rehabilitation account, the 7
Washington sexual assault kit account, the stadium and exhibition 8
center account, the youth athletic facility account, the self-9
insurance revolving fund, the children's trust fund, the Washington 10
horse racing commission Washington bred owners' bonus fund and 11
breeder awards account, the Washington horse racing commission class 12
C purse fund account, the individual development account program 13
account, the Washington horse racing commission operating account, 14
the life sciences discovery fund, the Washington state library-15
archives building account, the reduced cigarette ignition propensity 16
account, the center for deaf and hard of hearing youth account, the 17
school for the blind account, the Millersylvania park trust fund, the 18
public employees' and retirees' insurance reserve fund, the school 19
employees' benefits board insurance reserve fund, the public 20
employees' and retirees' insurance account, the school employees' 21
insurance account, the long-term services and supports trust account, 22
the radiation perpetual maintenance fund, the Indian health 23
improvement reinvestment account, the department of licensing tuition 24
recovery trust fund, the student achievement council tuition recovery 25
trust fund, the tuition recovery trust fund, the industrial insurance 26
premium refund account, the mobile home park relocation fund, the 27
natural resources deposit fund, the Washington state health insurance 28
pool account, the federal forest revolving account, the Washington 29
saves administrative treasury trust account, and the library 30
operations account. 31
(c) The following accounts and funds must receive 80 percent of 32
their proportionate share of earnings based upon each account's or 33
fund's average daily balance for the period: The advance right-of-way 34
revolving fund, the advanced environmental mitigation revolving 35
account, the federal narcotics asset forfeitures account, the high 36
occupancy vehicle account, the local rail service assistance account, 37
and the miscellaneous transportation programs account.38
(d) Any state agency that has independent authority over accounts 39
or funds not statutorily required to be held in the custody of the 40
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state treasurer that deposits funds into a fund or account in the 1
custody of the state treasurer pursuant to an agreement with the 2
office of the state treasurer shall receive its proportionate share 3
of earnings based upon each account's or fund's average daily balance 4
for the period. 5
(5) In conformance with Article II, section 37 of the state 6
Constitution, no trust accounts or funds shall be allocated earnings 7
without the specific affirmative directive of this section.8
NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. Section 4 of this act takes effect January 9
1, 2026.10
NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. Section 7 of this act expires July 1, 11
2030.12
NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. Section 8 of this act takes effect July 13
1, 2030.14
NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 6 of this act 15
constitute a new chapter in Title 19 RCW.16
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