Washington may soon become the first state in the country to ensure that low-income tenants have legal representation when faced with an eviction, an idea lawmakers see as a way to head off a feared wave of evictions once pandemic-era rental restrictions are lifted.
A bill likely to pass the state Legislature follows years of organizing by tenant advocates across the country who say guaranteeing lawyers for tenants during evictions, also known as “right to counsel,” keeps people in their homes at far higher rates than the current system. Yet a last-minute amendment added to the bill would also lift the state’s moratorium on evictions less than three months from now, raising alarm from advocates who say that’s not enough time to ready the state for a potential “eviction cliff.”
Washington’s Senate Bill 5160, which has passed the state Senate and House and now goes back to the Senate for final approval, would provide attorneys to tenants who receive certain public assistance, have been involuntarily committed to a public mental health facility, can’t afford a lawyer or who have incomes at 125% or below the federal poverty level — $16,100 annually for individuals, $33,125 for a household of four. The state’s Office of Civil Legal Aid would have 90 days to draft a plan to implement the law within a year.