In Washington state, we have a shortage of affordable housing and the rent is too damn high. Headline writers and corporate lobbyists like to say that a policy to cap rent increases is “controversial” or “complicated.” But actually House Bill 1217, which would limit rent increase to 7%, is extremely easy to understand and extremely popular.
In public opinion survey after survey capping rent increases in our state has overwhelming – and rising – public support. In January, an Elway poll found 68% support for limiting how much landlords can raise rent. In February, EMC Research found supermajority support – 72% – for capping the amount landlords can increase rent annually– with strong majority support in every area of the state, across party affiliation, income, and whether those surveyed were homeowners or renters. And just last month, in March 2025, a statewide poll by YouGov found 81% favor rent stabilization policy to cap rent increases, with 57% strongly supporting it.
You’d be hard pressed to find similar levels of rapidly rising support for any policy dealing with pressing social or economic issues. And this support is rising as landlords across the country ramp up their spending in an attempt to kill this bill.
Huge corporate landlords, developers, out of state property investment companies and their trade associations are shrouding themselves behind front groups with names like “Housing Solutions Coalition,” “Partnership for Affordable Housing,” and “Build Up Washington,” attempting to hide the fact that they are the landlords driving our affordability crisis. They are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to mislead the public and to try to block a moderate, but protective bill that will finally provide renters with predictability and stability over their housing costs.
These big, corporate landlord lobbyists are vested in the status quo and are using false narratives devoid of facts or credible evidence, while also violating some basic political spending laws meant to provide clarity to voters on who they are being contacted by.
“Build Up Washington” has spent hundreds of thousands to oppose rent stabilization. The group was created this legislative session specifically to oppose HB 1217. The WA Multi Family Housing Association hosts the Build Up Washington website, and is a founder of the front group with NAIOP, HNN Real Estate, Goodman Real Estate, Grand Peaks Development and others. These groups are huge landlords, real estate speculators, and trade associations for big developers.
Meanwhile, a group calling themselves the “Housing Solutions Coalition” has been mailing voters across the state with misleading statements about the bill as well. This group, associated with the National Apartment Association, has not filed grassroots lobbying reports with the state, so no one knows how much they are spending to try to kill this bill. A QR code on their mailer goes to an action by Build Up Washington. Because Build Up Washington’s texting campaign shares the same action page as the one on the mailer by the Housing Solutions Coalition, there is strong evidence that this is a coalition campaign, yet there are no filings that shed light on their collusion.
On recent mailers sent to households across Washington making wildly untrue statements about HB 1217, the so-called Housing Solutions Coalition failed to include basic information required by the PDC and they also failed to file any grassroots lobbying reports. PDC laws and rules were created to prevent such groups from misleading voters. In this case, it’s big, corporate landlords who know that landlords are not really that popular with the general public. And so they are hiding who they are, and are seemingly unrestrained in their use of dirty tactics to block these basic protections for renters from passing.
The Washington Housing Alliance Action Fund has filed a complaint with the PDC because we believe voters being targeted with misleading information about rent stabilization should be informed about who is really behind this campaign.
These are not the only landlord groups spending large sums of money to oppose this commonsense rent stabilization policy, the Rental Housing Association has also been creating front groups, running TV ads and more.
But what have all these hundreds of thousands of dollars gotten these landlords? Not much. HB 1217 is progressing through the legislative process and will be up for final votes soon. Their desperate attempts to fool the public aren’t working – the majority of us know that rent stabilization is a long time in coming and will help keep renters in their homes.
Michele Thomas is director of advocacy and policy at the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, where she has worked since 2009. Thomas previously worked as a community organizer at the Tenants Union of Washington State.