Two bills that aimed at addressing Washington State's housing crisis by capping rent hikes and requiring landlords to provide at least six months' notice of rent increases failed to pass the state House of Representatives this week, most likely ending the initiative this year.

Landlords had lobbied fiercely against the bills, warning that the rent regulations would drive them out of the state. Proponents said the defeat of the rent caps would result in people in Washington "sleeping in their cars," according to a report in the Seattle Times.

"There are people who will lose their homes to rent increases [this year]," said Rep. Alex Ramel of Bellingham, a sponsor of the cap on rent increases. "Many of them will move into another home in another community, but some of them are going to lose their home and they're going to end up sleeping in their cars."