Tenant assistance program

AN ACT Relating to creating a tenant assistance program; amending 1
RCW 36.22.250; adding new sections to chapter 43.31 RCW; and adding a 2
new section to chapter 44.28 RCW; creating a new section; and 3
providing expiration dates. 4
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:5
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that a 6
significant number of Washington residents are currently rent-7
burdened, spending a disproportionate amount of their income on 8
housing expenses. High rents have become a substantial burden for too 9
many Washingtonians, limiting their ability to access safe and 10
affordable housing. This situation creates economic instability and 11
negatively impacts the overall well-being of individuals and families 12
across the state. This strain contributes to financial insecurity, 13
making it challenging for individuals and families of all shapes and 14
sizes to meet other essential needs, such as health care, education, 15
and savings for the future. This phenomenon exacerbates existing 16
inequalities and hinders economic mobility for a significant portion 17
of the population.18
(2) The legislature has taken significant steps to address the 19
affordable housing crisis, including investing in housing 20
development, expanding rental assistance programs, and enacting 21
S-1020.1
SENATE BILL 5731
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Senators Goehner, Fortunato, Holy, Boehnke, Christian, Cortes, and
Dozier
Read first time 02/11/25. Referred to Committee on Housing.
p. 1 SB 5731
tenant protections. However, these efforts will take time to bear 1
fruit, and many households continue to face immediate financial 2
hardship due to high rental costs. 3
(3) Therefore, the legislature intends to address the issue of 4
housing affordability by establishing a tenant assistance program. 5
This program aims to reduce the number of people who are rent-6
burdened by providing financial assistance to eligible individuals 7
and families. This program seeks to create a more equitable and 8
accessible housing market, fostering stability and opportunity for 9
Washington residents. By implementing this program, the legislature 10
aims to alleviate the economic strain caused by high rents, promote 11
housing security, and enhance the overall quality of life for 12
residents of the state. 13
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.31 14
RCW to read as follows: 15
(1) The tenant assistance program is created as a grant program 16
administered by the department of commerce. The department may adopt 17
any rules necessary to administer the program. 18
(2) As part of the tenant assistance program, the department of 19
commerce shall provide grants to public housing authorities created 20
under chapter 35.82 RCW for the purpose of providing tenant 21
assistance payments for eligible renters as described in this 22
section. 23
(3) To be eligible for tenant assistance payments, a renter must 24
meet all of the following criteria: 25
(a) The renter must have a household income at or below 80 26
percent of the median household income adjusted for household size, 27
for the county where the household is located, as reported by the 28
United States department of housing and urban development;29
(b) The renter must spend more than 30 percent of the renter's 30
monthly household income on monthly housing costs, including rent, 31
fees, and utilities; and 32
(c) The renter would not have to spend more than 30 percent of 33
their monthly household income on monthly housing costs, including 34
rent, fees, and utilities, if the renter's monthly rent payment was 35
reduced by $400 or less. 36
(4) A public housing authority must prioritize providing tenant 37
assistance payments for eligible renters who meet any of the 38
following criteria: 39
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(a) The eligible renter has a household income at or below 60 1
percent of the median household income adjusted for household size, 2
for the county where the household is located, as reported by the 3
United States department of housing and urban development; or4
(b) The eligible renter receives supplemental security income.5
(5) A tenant assistance payment may not exceed the lesser of $400 6
or the amount necessary to reduce an eligible renter's monthly 7
housing costs, including rent, fees, and utilities, to no more than 8
30 percent of the eligible renter's monthly household income.9
(6) Only one eligible renter per household may receive tenant 10
assistance payments. 11
(7) An eligible renter may receive tenant assistance payments for 12
up to 12 consecutive months. 13
(8)(a) A renter seeking a tenant assistance payment under this 14
section must submit monthly documentation of the renter's income, 15
rent, utilities, and any other records necessary to determine program 16
eligibility to the appropriate public housing authority.17
(b) A renter who provides false documentation under this 18
subsection must repay any tenant assistance payments received and is 19
no longer eligible for participation in the tenant assistance 20
program. 21
(9) A landlord may not discriminate against renters receiving 22
tenant assistance payments under this section. 23
(10) By July 30, 2026, and annually thereafter, and in compliance 24
with RCW 43.01.036, the department of commerce shall submit a report 25
to the appropriate committees of the legislature on the tenant 26
assistance program that includes information on the total number of 27
renter households served by the program, the total dollar amount of 28
rental assistance distributed to renters as tenant assistance 29
payments, the average number of months that a renter household 30
receives tenant assistance payments, and any recommendations for 31
changes to the program. The department of commerce must also post a 32
copy of the report to the department's website. 33
(11) For the purposes of this section, "renter" means any person 34
who rents a dwelling unit under a rental agreement subject to chapter 35
59.18 RCW or a manufactured/mobile home lot under a rental agreement 36
subject to chapter 59.20 RCW. 37
(12) This section expires June 30, 2032. 38
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Sec. 3. RCW 36.22.250 and 2023 c 277 s 1 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
(1) A surcharge of $183 per instrument shall be charged by the 3
county auditor for each document recorded, which will be in addition 4
to any other charge authorized by law. The following are exempt from 5
this surcharge: 6
(a) Assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of 7
trust; 8
(b) Documents recording a birth, marriage, divorce, or death;9
(c) Any recorded documents otherwise exempted from a recording 10
fee or additional surcharges under state law; 11
(d) Marriage licenses issued by the county auditor; and12
(e) Documents recording a federal, state, county, city, or water-13
sewer district, or wage lien or satisfaction of lien.14
(2) Funds collected pursuant to this section must be distributed 15
and used as follows: 16
(a) One percent of the total funds collected shall be retained by 17
the county auditor for its fee collection activities;18
(b) 30 percent of the total funds collected shall be retained by 19
the county and used by the county as provided in subsection (3) of 20
this section; 21
(c) 54.1 percent of the total funds collected shall be 22
transmitted to the state treasurer to be deposited in the home 23
security fund account created in RCW 43.185C.060 and shall be used by 24
the department of commerce as provided in subsection (4) of this 25
section. From July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2032, the amount of 26
total funds collected to be deposited in the home security fund 27
account shall be reduced to 39.1 percent;28
(d) From July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2032, 20 percent of the 29
total funds collected shall be transmitted to the state treasurer to 30
be deposited in the tenant assistance program account created in 31
section 4 of this act; 32
(((d))) (e) 13.1 percent of the total funds collected shall be 33
transmitted to the state treasurer to be deposited in the affordable 34
housing for all account created in RCW 43.185C.190 and shall be used 35
by the department of commerce as provided in subsection (5) of this 36
section. From July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2032, the amount of 37
total funds collected to be deposited in the affordable housing for 38
all account shall be reduced to 8.1 percent; 39
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(((e))) (f) 1.8 percent of the total funds collected shall be 1
transmitted to the state treasurer to be deposited in the landlord 2
mitigation program account created in RCW 43.31.615 and shall be used 3
by the department of commerce as provided in subsection (6) of this 4
section. 5
(3) The county shall use their portion of the collected funds as 6
follows: 7
(a) Up to 10 percent for the county's administration and local 8
distribution of the funds collected from the surcharge in this 9
section, and administrative costs related to the county's homeless 10
housing plan; 11
(b) At least 75 percent will be retained and used by the county 12
to accomplish the purposes of its local homeless housing plan 13
pursuant to chapter 484, Laws of 2005. For each city in the county 14
that elects as authorized in RCW 43.185C.080 to operate its own local 15
homeless housing program, a percentage of the surcharge assessed 16
under this subsection equal to the percentage of the city's local 17
portion of the real estate excise tax collected by the county shall 18
be transmitted at least quarterly to the city treasurer, without any 19
deduction for county administrative costs, for use by the city for 20
program costs which directly contribute to the goals of the city's 21
local homeless housing plan; of the funds received by the city, it 22
may use up to 10 percent for administrative costs for its homeless 23
housing program; 24
(c) At least 15 percent will be retained and used by the county 25
for eligible housing activities, as described in this subsection, 26
that serve extremely low and very low-income households in the county 27
and the cities within a county according to an interlocal agreement 28
between the county and the cities within the county consistent with 29
countywide and local housing needs and policies. A priority must be 30
given to eligible housing activities that serve extremely low-income 31
households with incomes at or below 30 percent of the area median 32
income. Eligible housing activities to be funded are limited to:33
(i) Acquisition, construction, or rehabilitation of housing 34
projects or units within housing projects that are affordable to very 35
low-income households with incomes at or below 50 percent of the area 36
median income, including units for homeownership, rental units, 37
seasonal and permanent farmworker housing units, units reserved for 38
victims of human trafficking and their families, and single room 39
occupancy units; 40
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(ii) Supporting building operation and maintenance costs of 1
housing projects or units within housing projects eligible to receive 2
housing trust funds, that are affordable to very low-income 3
households with incomes at or below 50 percent of the area median 4
income, and that require a supplement to rent income to cover ongoing 5
operating expenses; 6
(iii) Rental assistance vouchers for housing units that are 7
affordable to very low-income households with incomes at or below 50 8
percent of the area median income, including rental housing vouchers 9
for victims of human trafficking and their families, to be 10
administered by a local public housing authority or other local 11
organization that has an existing rental assistance voucher program, 12
consistent with or similar to the United States department of housing 13
and urban development's section 8 rental assistance voucher program 14
standards; and 15
(iv) Operating costs for emergency shelters and licensed 16
overnight youth shelters. 17
(4) The department of commerce shall use the funds from the 18
document recording fee or other fund sources deposited in the home 19
security fund account as follows, except that the department of 20
commerce shall provide counties with the right of first refusal to 21
receive grant funds distributed under (b) of this subsection (4). If 22
a county refuses the funds or does not respond within a time frame 23
established by the department, the department shall make good faith 24
efforts to identify one or more suitable alternative grantees 25
operating within that county. The alternative grantee shall 26
distribute the funds in a manner that is in compliance with this 27
chapter. Funding provided through the office of homeless youth 28
prevention and protection programs created in RCW 43.330.705 is 29
exempt from the county first refusal requirement. 30
(a) Up to 10 percent for administration of the programs 31
established in chapter 43.185C RCW and in conformance with this 32
subsection (4), including the costs of creating and implementing 33
strategic plans, collecting and evaluating data, measuring and 34
reporting performance, providing technical assistance to local 35
governments, providing training to entities delivering services, and 36
developing and maintaining stakeholder relationships;37
(b) At least 90 percent for homelessness assistance grant 38
programs administered by the department, including but not limited 39
to: Temporary rental assistance; eviction prevention rental 40
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assistance per RCW 43.185C.185; emergency shelter and transitional 1
housing operations and maintenance; outreach; diversion; HOPE and 2
crisis residential centers; young adult housing; homeless services 3
and case management for adult, family, youth, and young adult 4
homeless populations and those at risk of homelessness; project-based 5
vouchers for nonprofit housing providers or public housing 6
authorities; tenant-based rent assistance; housing services; rapid 7
rehousing; emergency housing; acquisition; operations; maintenance; 8
and service costs for permanent supportive housing as defined in RCW 9
36.70A.030 for individuals with disabilities. Grantees may also use 10
these funds in partnership with permanent supportive housing programs 11
administered by the office of apple health and homes created in RCW 12
43.330.181. Priority for use must be given to purposes intended to 13
house persons who are chronically homeless or to maintain housing for 14
individuals with disabilities and prior experiences of homelessness, 15
including families with children. 16
(5) The department of commerce shall use the funds from the 17
document recording fee or other fund sources deposited in the 18
affordable housing for all account as follows: 19
(a) Up to 10 percent for program administration and technical 20
assistance necessary for the delivery programs and activities under 21
this subsection (5); 22
(b) At least 90 percent for the following: 23
(i) Grants for building operation and maintenance costs of 24
housing projects, or units within housing projects, that are in the 25
state's housing trust fund portfolio, are affordable to extremely 26
low-income households with incomes at or below 30 percent of the area 27
median income, and require a supplement to rent income to cover 28
ongoing operating expenses; 29
(ii) Grants to support the building operations, maintenance, and 30
supportive service costs for permanent supportive housing projects, 31
or units within housing projects, that have received or will receive 32
funding from the housing trust fund or other public capital funding 33
programs. The supported projects or units must be dedicated as 34
permanent supportive housing as defined in RCW 36.70A.030, be 35
occupied by extremely low-income households with incomes at or below 36
30 percent of the area median income, and require a supplement to 37
rent income to cover ongoing property operations, maintenance, and 38
supportive services expenses. 39
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(6) The department of commerce shall use the funds from the 1
document recording fee or other fund sources deposited in the 2
landlord mitigation program account to administer the landlord 3
mitigation program as established in RCW 43.31.605. The department of 4
commerce may use up to 10 percent of these funds for program 5
administration and the development and maintenance of a database 6
necessary to administer the program. 7
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. A new section is added to chapter 43.31 8
RCW to read as follows: 9
(1) The tenant assistance program account is created in the state 10
treasury. Moneys in the account may only be spent after 11
appropriation. Expenditures from the account may only be used to 12
provide grants to public housing authorities for the purpose of 13
providing tenant assistance payments for eligible renters under 14
section 2 of this act. 15
(2) This section expires December 31, 2032. 16
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. A new section is added to chapter 44.28 17
RCW to read as follows: 18
The joint committee must review the efficacy of the tenant 19
assistance program established by this act and its impacts on housing 20
stability for those served by the program and report its findings to 21
the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2031. 22
The review must include a recommendation on whether this program 23
should be continued without change or should be amended or repealed.24
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