As the Puget Sound region sizzles under high temperatures this week, residents will be cranking up their air conditioners. Washington’s Legislature recently enacted a law that gives renters the right to install portable AC units, specifically during hot flashes like this one.
“ Washington's rental laws were written for a climate when most people didn't need air conditioning,” said Sen. Vandana Slatter, a Democrat from Bellevue, who co-sponsored the measure, Senate Bill 6200. “The world is changing, and summers are now hotter, and wildfire smoke keeps people indoors.”
Indoor cooling was once a rarity in the Pacific Northwest. But increasingly warm summers caused by climate change have made AC more necessary. Over half of homes in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties now have AC.
Previously, Washington’s rental laws didn’t have much guidance on new cooling units. Slatter said that landlords could refuse to let a tenant install one. The new law, by contrast, states that renters can now install a portable AC unit, as long as a landlord hasn’t explicitly written a ban into the lease.
The law, which went into effect in June, includes specific restrictions depending on the kinds of AC units a tenant is looking to install. For a window unit, here are the restrictions:
- A tenant must give the landlord two days’ notice before installation.
- The device cannot prevent a window accessible from the outside to be locked.
- It cannot require excessive brackets that would damage the window frame warranty.
- The device must be safely secured from falling out of the window.
- The landlord’s insurance policy must allow window-mounted units to be installed.
- Landlords can require inspection of window-mounted units after installation.
Fewer restrictions apply to other types of AC units, like floor-mounted devices and saddle-mounted units.
Landlords can still deny any kind of unit if there isn’t sufficient electrical power in the building to power air conditioning, if it isn’t installed properly, or if it’s causing extensive property damage.
Landlord groups like the Multi-Family Housing Association have raised concerns over the new law, saying it lacks safeguards around the installation of window-mounted units.
