Rental property flood discl.

AN ACT Relating to rental property disclosures of flooding 1
history and flood risk; and reenacting and amending RCW 59.18.060.2
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:3
Sec. 1. RCW 59.18.060 and 2023 c 331 s 5 and 2023 c 105 s 8 are 4
each reenacted and amended to read as follows: 5
The landlord will at all times during the tenancy keep the 6
premises fit for human habitation, and shall in particular:7
(1) Maintain the premises to substantially comply with any 8
applicable code, statute, ordinance, or regulation governing their 9
maintenance or operation, which the legislative body enacting the 10
applicable code, statute, ordinance or regulation could enforce as to 11
the premises rented if such condition endangers or impairs the health 12
or safety of the tenant; 13
(2) Maintain the structural components including, but not limited 14
to, the roofs, floors, walls, chimneys, fireplaces, foundations, and 15
all other structural components, in reasonably good repair so as to 16
be usable; 17
(3) Keep any shared or common areas reasonably clean, sanitary, 18
and safe from defects increasing the hazards of fire or accident;19
(4) Provide a reasonable program for the control of infestation 20
by insects, rodents, and other pests at the initiation of the tenancy 21
S-3779.1
SENATE BILL 6237
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Bateman, Hasegawa, Nobles, Shewmake, Valdez, and C.
Wilson
Read first time 01/20/26. Referred to Committee on Housing.
p. 1 SB 6237
and, except in the case of a single-family residence, control 1
infestation during tenancy except where such infestation is caused by 2
the tenant; 3
(5) Except where the condition is attributable to wear resulting 4
from ordinary use of the premises, make repairs and arrangements 5
necessary to put and keep the premises in as good condition as it by 6
law or rental agreement should have been, at the commencement of the 7
tenancy; 8
(6) Provide reasonably adequate locks and furnish keys to the 9
tenant; 10
(7) Maintain and safeguard with reasonable care any master key or 11
duplicate keys to the dwelling unit; 12
(8) Maintain all electrical, plumbing, heating, and other 13
facilities and appliances supplied by him or her in reasonably good 14
working order; 15
(9) Maintain the dwelling unit in reasonably weathertight 16
condition; 17
(10) Except in the case of a single-family residence, provide and 18
maintain appropriate receptacles in common areas for the removal of 19
ashes, rubbish, and garbage, incidental to the occupancy and arrange 20
for the reasonable and regular removal of such waste;21
(11) Provide facilities adequate to supply heat and water and hot 22
water as reasonably required by the tenant; 23
(a) The landlord may not effect an involuntary termination of 24
electric utility or water service due to lack of payment to any 25
tenant on any day for which the national weather service has issued 26
or has announced that it intends to issue a heat-related alert, such 27
as an excessive heat warning, a heat advisory, an excessive heat 28
watch, or a similar alert, for the area in which the tenant's address 29
is located. 30
(b)(i) A tenant at whose dwelling electric or water utility 31
service has been disconnected for lack of payment may request that 32
the landlord reconnect service on any day for which the national 33
weather service has issued or has announced that it intends to issue 34
a heat-related alert, such as an excessive heat warning, a heat 35
advisory, an excessive heat watch, or a similar alert, for the area 36
in which the tenant's address is located. The landlord shall inform 37
all tenants in the notice of disconnection of the ability to seek 38
reconnection and provide clear and specific information on how to 39
make that request, including how to contact the landlord.40
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(ii) Upon receipt of a request made pursuant to (b)(i) of this 1
subsection, the landlord shall promptly make a reasonable attempt to 2
reconnect service to the dwelling. The landlord, in connection with a 3
request made pursuant to (b)(i) of this subsection, may require the 4
tenant to enter into a payment plan prior to reconnecting service to 5
the dwelling. If the landlord requires the tenant to enter into a 6
repayment plan, the repayment plan must comply with (c) of this 7
subsection. 8
(c) A repayment plan required by a landlord pursuant to (b)(i) of 9
this subsection will be designed both to pay the past due bill by the 10
following May 15th, or as soon as possible after May 15th if needed 11
to maintain monthly payments that are no greater than six percent of 12
the tenant's monthly income, and to pay for continued utility 13
service. The plan may not require monthly payments in excess of six 14
percent of the tenant's monthly income. A tenant may agree to pay a 15
higher percentage during this period, but will not be in default 16
unless payment during this period is less than six percent of the 17
tenant's monthly income. If assistance payments are received by the 18
tenant subsequent to implementation of the plan, the tenant shall 19
contact the landlord to reformulate the plan; 20
(12)(a) Provide a written notice to all tenants disclosing fire 21
safety and protection information. The landlord or his or her 22
authorized agent must provide a written notice to the tenant that the 23
dwelling unit is equipped with a smoke detection device as required 24
in RCW 43.44.110. The notice shall inform the tenant of the tenant's 25
responsibility to maintain the smoke detection device in proper 26
operating condition and of penalties for failure to comply with the 27
provisions of RCW 43.44.110(3). The notice must be signed by the 28
landlord or the landlord's authorized agent and tenant with copies 29
provided to both parties. Further, except with respect to a single-30
family residence, the written notice must also disclose the 31
following: 32
(i) Whether the smoke detection device is hard-wired or battery 33
operated; 34
(ii) Whether the building has a fire sprinkler system;35
(iii) Whether the building has a fire alarm system;36
(iv) Whether the building has a smoking policy, and what that 37
policy is; 38
(v) Whether the building has an emergency notification plan for 39
the occupants and, if so, provide a copy to the occupants;40
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(vi) Whether the building has an emergency relocation plan for 1
the occupants and, if so, provide a copy to the occupants; and2
(vii) Whether the building has an emergency evacuation plan for 3
the occupants and, if so, provide a copy to the occupants.4
(b) The information required under this subsection may be 5
provided to a tenant in a multifamily residential building either as 6
a written notice or as a checklist that discloses whether the 7
building has fire safety and protection devices and systems. The 8
checklist shall include a diagram showing the emergency evacuation 9
routes for the occupants. 10
(c) The written notice or checklist must be provided to new 11
tenants at the time the lease or rental agreement is signed;12
(13) Disclose to tenants the following:13
(a) That the property is located in a special flood hazard area 14
or an area of potential flooding, if the owner has actual knowledge 15
of the fact. For purposes of this section, "actual knowledge" 16
includes the following:17
(i) The landlord has received written notice from any public 18
agency stating that the property is located in a special flood hazard 19
area or an area of potential flooding;20
(ii) The property is located in an area in which the landlord's 21
mortgage holder requires the landlord to carry flood insurance; or22
(iii) The landlord currently carries flood insurance;23
(b) Any known flooding, standing water, or drainage problems on 24
the property that affect the property or access to the property;25
(c) That the landlord's insurance does not cover the loss of the 26
tenant's personal possessions, and that it is recommended that the 27
tenant consider purchasing renter's insurance and flood insurance to 28
insure his or her possessions from loss due to fire, flood, or other 29
risk of loss; and30
(d) That information about hazards that may affect the property, 31
including whether the property may be at risk of flooding, is 32
available from the tenant's county government.33
(14) Provide tenants with information provided or approved by the 34
department of health about the health hazards associated with 35
exposure to indoor mold. Information may be provided in written 36
format individually to each tenant, or may be posted in a visible, 37
public location at the dwelling unit property. The information must 38
detail how tenants can control mold growth in their dwelling units to 39
minimize the health risks associated with indoor mold. Landlords may 40
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obtain the information from the department's website or, if requested 1
by the landlord, the department must mail the information to the 2
landlord in a printed format. When developing or changing the 3
information, the department of health must include representatives of 4
landlords in the development process. The information must be 5
provided by the landlord to new tenants at the time the lease or 6
rental agreement is signed; 7
(((14))) (15) The landlord and his or her agents and employees 8
are immune from civil liability for failure to comply with subsection 9
(13) of this section except where the landlord and his or her agents 10
and employees knowingly and intentionally do not comply with 11
subsection (((13))) (14) of this section; and 12
(((15))) (16) Designate to the tenant the name and address of the 13
person who is the landlord by a statement on the rental agreement or 14
by a notice conspicuously posted on the premises. The tenant shall be 15
notified immediately of any changes in writing, which must be either 16
(a) delivered personally to the tenant or (b) mailed to the tenant 17
and conspicuously posted on the premises. If the person designated in 18
this section does not reside in the state where the premises are 19
located, there shall also be designated a person who resides in the 20
county who is authorized to act as an agent for the purposes of 21
service of notices and process, and if no designation is made of a 22
person to act as agent, then the person to whom rental payments are 23
to be made shall be considered such agent. Regardless of such 24
designation, any owner who resides outside the state and who violates 25
a provision of this chapter is deemed to have submitted himself or 26
herself to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state and personal 27
service of any process may be made on the owner outside the state 28
with the same force and effect as personal service within the state. 29
Any summons or process served out-of-state must contain the same 30
information and be served in the same manner as personal service of 31
summons or process served within the state, except the summons or 32
process must require the party to appear and answer within 60 days 33
after such personal service out of the state. In an action for a 34
violation of this chapter that is filed under chapter 12.40 RCW, 35
service of the notice of claim outside the state must contain the 36
same information and be served in the same manner as required under 37
chapter 12.40 RCW, except the date on which the party is required to 38
appear must not be less than 60 days from the date of service of the 39
notice of claim. 40
p. 5 SB 6237
No duty shall devolve upon the landlord to repair a defective 1
condition under this section, nor shall any defense or remedy be 2
available to the tenant under this chapter, where the defective 3
condition complained of was caused by the conduct of such tenant, his 4
or her family, invitee, or other person acting under his or her 5
control, or where a tenant unreasonably fails to allow the landlord 6
access to the property for purposes of repair. When the duty imposed 7
by subsection (1) of this section is incompatible with and greater 8
than the duty imposed by any other provisions of this section, the 9
landlord's duty shall be determined pursuant to subsection (1) of 10
this section. 11
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