Seattle Nonprofit Landlords Push for Tenant Law Cuts

A Seattle housing nonprofit is helping lead the charge to roll back eviction restrictions and some tenant protection laws.

The Housing Development Consortium, a Seattle-based organization advocating for nonprofit housing providers, has been working with City Council member Cathy Moore on proposed legislation to modify local landlord-tenant laws. But with Moore’s announcement of her resignation effective July 7, the group has been looking to take the proposed legislation across the finish line on its own, The Seattle Times reported.

The housing nonprofit agreed with Moore to propose repealing the city’s “roommate ordinance,” which requires landlords to allow new roommates or family into their buildings. They also looked to revise the ban on wintertime evictions to exclude tenants who are determined to be willingly withholding rent.

While both sides were in agreement with each other on stipulations like these, they disagreed on whether or not to repeal the city’s “right of first refusal” law that requires landlords to offer a new lease to existing tenants unless there is just cause not to. Moore wanted the law to be rolled back, while Housing Development Consortium’s executive director, Patience Malaba, wants it to stay.

HDC is “committed” to the legal changes it wants to see — so much so that the group has gone beyond working with Moore even before the legislator announced her departure due to health and personal reasons.

“Our collaboration with Council member Moore had paused over differences in the scope and scale of proposed changes to policy,” Malaba told the Times.

Seattle boasts some of the most tenant protection laws in the country that, among other things, limit evictions, restrict landlords’ abilities to pick and choose tenants, require relocation assistance for tenants priced out by rent hikes, and force landlords to give advanced notice for rent increases. One provider, GRE Development, sued the city to try to force a rollback but was unsuccessful.

Council member Mark Solomon, once a small landlord himself, told the Times he’s meeting with both housing providers and renters to find a compromise. But a piece of legislation emerging and receiving committee and full floor votes before the August recess appears unlikely.

“Everything is still under consideration,” he said.

— Chris Malone Méndez