House Bill 1081, passed in the last legislative session, has taken effect as RCW 61.40 as of January 1, 2026. The new law will change things for real estate investors and, as most new laws do, will introduce a number of uncertainties for buyers, sellers and others.
The Broad Strokes:
- Essentially, any real estate that is not listed or otherwise available for purchase will enjoy these protections.
- The protections in the new law, rights to rescind a sale and rights to an appraisal, are not available if a real estate broker is involved.
- Violations of the law are violations of the Consumer Protection Act.
The Details:
General Application
The new law applies to the solicitation for the “purchase of real property,” not currently publicly available or listed. The application of the law is to all real estate, not just owner-occupied, residential or even commercial, which is significant.
Previous legislation, such as RCW 61.34, protects owner-occupants of real estate. The new legislation is much broader.
Additionally, the language “publicly available” presumably applies to listed properties and “for sale by owner” properties. It is unclear as to whether the protections will apply to situations such as the Zillow “make me sell” category or other similar circumstances where an owner drops a hook in the water to ascertain valuation.
The protections afforded sellers don’t apply if the buyer or seller is represented by a re ... Read More…