Renters rejoice. The Seattle City Council has your back.
The Council passed an ordinance on Dec. 12 that will help people without flush savings accounts secure housing in Seattle by capping move-in fees and spreading them out over the first six months of a renter’s tenancy.
The bill, championed by Councilmember Kshama Sawant and Washington CAN!, could help people who have all of the right qualifications except the bank balance to get into an apartment. Given that the median rent is $1,800 for a one-bedroom apartment, the cost of signing a lease — often first and last months’ rent, plus a security deposit — can top $4,000.
Most people can’t meet that standard. According to a survey by the Federal Reserve, 46 percent of U.S. residents can’t cover a tenth of that without selling off assets.
Small-scale landlords largely came out against the measure, arguing that it would pile new risk on them without any kind of insurance. Some arrived with photos of damage to units allegedly committed by their former tenants. They asked councilmembers what they would do if a bad tenant were to trash the place and run before the six-month window had ended.
The Rental Housing Association, a lobbying group, organized landlords against the measure, arguing in a blog post that the legislation was based on faulty data and that the move-in fees that the ordinance caps are the only means for landlords to cover their risk.
Removing, reducing or mitigating will mean higher rents, the group stated.
“If move-in fees are artificially restrained, rent is the only relief valve,” the association wrote.
Those for the measure noted that these kinds of fees not only made it difficult for qualified people to get into housing, but also disadvantaged survivors of domestic violence and other marginalized groups who need to find a new place to live, but can’t because the fees are too high.
That included landlords.
Susan Helf, a local landlord who depends on her tenants for the income that her Social Security payments do not provide, supports the ordinance.
“If I can do it, I don’t know why the rest of you can’t,” she said.
Fees are voluntary on the part of the landlord, but they act as insurance against a bad tenant. By law, the money can’t be spent until the tenancy ends, and must be held in an escrow account in the interim.
In its original form, the legislation would have extended to all landlords, regardless of size or whether they live on site or not. An amendment put forward by Councilmember Rob Johnson changed that language to exempt property owners who live in the home that they also rent.
Originally, Johnson offered up the ordinance as the “Johnson amendment,” to which Council President Bruce Harrell responded, “Amendment 1 will work.”
Councilmember Lisa Herbold tried to amend the Johnson amendment to allow landlords who live on site to charge higher fees than specified in the new ordinance, one month’s rent, but maintain the concept of the payment plan.
The majority of the Council was not having it.
The new measure follows another change in law concerning rentals in Seattle.
In August, the Council prohibited discrimination based on where your rent check comes from, such as a public subsidy like Section 8 vouchers or Social Security.