This map is informational only. It is not legal advice. Rent control coverage here is inferred from public assessor and permit records, not from any official determination. The underlying data is incomplete and sometimes wrong, and several exemptions can't be seen in it at all. Treat this as one source among several. Before acting on anything you see here, confirm it against your lease, your landlord, county records, or a tenant-rights attorney.
Data current as of July 20, 2026. Assessor extracts, Seattle permit records, and the published increase limit were last pulled on that date. Anything recorded since then won't appear.
Washington's HB 1217 (RCW 59.18.710 through .730) took effect May 7, 2025 and sunsets July 1, 2040. It limits most residential rent increases to the lesser of 10% or 7% plus CPI, no more than once every 12 months, with no increase during a tenancy's first 12 months. The Department of Commerce publishes the figure each July; the current one shows in the legend and on each building's card.
Four of the seven exemptions leave no trace in county records, so a building shown as covered may still be exempt for a reason the map can't see.
✓ Shown (colors the dot) ⚑ Flagged (card note only) ✗ Not in assessor records (shows as covered even if exempt)
| Exemption | Statute | On this map |
|---|---|---|
| "A tenancy in a dwelling unit for which the first certificate of occupancy was issued 12 or less years before the date of the notice of the rent increase." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(a) |
✓ Shown, with the year it expires.
Seattle, matched to a "New" construction permit (~700 buildings):
the real certificate-of-occupancy date from Seattle SDCI. The building's card links
that permit so you can check it yourself.
Everywhere else: the assessor's recorded year built
stands in for the certificate-of-occupancy date.
No year built on record: grey dot, unknown.
|
| "A tenancy in a dwelling unit owned by a: (i) Public housing authority; (ii) Public development authority; (iii) Nonprofit organization, where maximum rents are regulated by other laws or local, state, or federal affordable housing program requirements; or (iv) Nonprofit entity, as defined in RCW 84.36.560, where a nonprofit organization, housing authority, or public development authority has the majority decision-making power on behalf of the general partner, and where maximum rents are regulated by other laws or local, state, or federal affordable housing program requirements." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(b) |
✓ Shown, from the county's tax-exempt flag.
That
flag on the parcel
tells you who owns the building, not whether it qualifies under the statute, so the
map may miss or flag incorrectly.
|
| "A tenancy in a qualified low-income housing development as defined in RCW 82.45.010, where the property is owned by any of the organizations described in (b)(i) through (iv) of this subsection." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(c) |
✓ Caught only when the county lists the owner as tax exempt.
Same limitation as the row above.
|
| "A tenancy in a qualified low-income housing development which was allocated federal low-income housing tax credits authorized under 26 U.S.C. Sec. 42 or successor statute, by the Washington state housing finance commission or successor state-authorized tax credit allocating agency, so long as there is an enforceable regulatory agreement with the Washington state housing finance commission under the low-income housing tax credit program." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(d) |
✗ Not in assessor records.
The building shows as covered even when it is exempt.
|
| "A tenancy in a dwelling unit in which the tenant shares a bathroom or kitchen facility with the owner who maintains a principal residence at the residential real property." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(e) |
✗ Not in assessor records.
|
| "A tenancy in a single-family owner-occupied residence, including a residence in which the owner-occupant rents or leases no more than two units or bedrooms including, but not limited to, an attached or detached accessory dwelling unit." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(f) |
⚑ Flagged on the card only.
Shown where the assessor describes the building as a house with an
accessory dwelling unit.
|
| "A tenancy in a duplex, triplex, or fourplex in which the owner occupied one of the units as the owner's principal place of residence at the beginning of the tenancy, so long as the owner continues the occupancy." | RCW 59.18.710(1)(g) |
✗ Not in assessor records.
|
The last three exemptions apply only where the owner is not a real estate investment trust, a corporation, or an LLC with at least one corporate member (RCW 59.18.710(2)).
The 12-year window is evaluated in your browser against today's date, so buildings age into coverage without the map being rebuilt.
This estimates how well a building blocks sound between units, eg. footsteps from above, voices through a shared wall, etc. It says nothing about traffic, aircraft, or any other outside noise. No public dataset measures sound transmission for individual buildings, so this is a rough model built from five assessor fields (construction class, quality grade, condition, year built, unit density). It's an estimate, not a measurement, and no substitute for visiting the building, asking the landlord, or requesting the building plans.
Because it's a model and the reasoning behind it can be wrong for any given building, every card shows the raw assessor record it was built from and a See the numbers breakdown of exactly what each field added or subtracted. If you read that data differently than the model does, trust your own judgement.