Durkan Signs Ban Extension, One Size Fits All Repayment Plan
From the Seattle Times:
“In a statement to the council that accompanied her signature, Durkan said, “I recognize the significant hardship that the loss of rental income creates for our small landlords who are still burdened by mortgages, property taxes, and other expenses.” She said her administration is “working closely with the landlord community” to assess the problem and to come up with solutions.”
Hmmmm. Which one of you out there is the Mayor “working closely with?” Is it the woman I heard from who is having to sell her home and move? Is it the 40 unit apartment owner that’s thinking about leaving for Texas? Maybe it’s the housing provider with growing numbers of people who have income but aren’t paying rent. I doubt it. I think this statement was written by a staff person and Mayor Durkan really doesn’t care to work closely with anyone in the housing world unless it’s a non-profit.
I’ve always said this Mayor is not business friendly. Imagine getting 500 emails urging a veto and ignoring them. What else can we take from such complete disinterest? We’ll keep working at the state level.
Eviction Record Limitations and Mandated Payment Plans Pass
This is an excerpt from an update email I sent to supporters and explains what the City Council passed yesterday. There is a clip at the end from KIRO where I was interviewed.
The first bill the Council passed was CB 119787, legislation that disallows, in effect, screening a potential resident out for an eviction during the emergency and six months after the emergency is over. There were two amendments that passed (here and here). The first amendment was a technical adjustment to language and the second adds a “rebuttable presumption” that means a defense to an eviction can be that eviction information was used anyway, perhaps from a public records search.
This legislation on its face doesn’t do much since during the same period few evictions if any will be possible. The advocates on the other side, however, definitely have designs on banning of all eviction records for screening. Fortunately , they didn’t make that grab here.
The the Council passed CB 119788 which mandates a payment plan. I’ll just quote from the legislation,
The tenant shall pay one month or less of overdue rent in three consecutive, equal monthly installments. The tenant shall pay over one month and up to two months of overdue rent in five consecutive, equal monthly payments. The tenant shall pay over two months of overdue rent in six consecutive, equal monthly payments.
Any remainder from an uneven division of payments will be part of the last payment. The tenant may propose an alternative payment schedule, which, if the landlord agrees to it, shall be described in writing and signed by the tenant and landlord and deemed an amendment to any existing rental agreement.
If a housing providers moves to “terminate” a tenancy for lack of payment he or she must notify the resident of the payment plan. An amendment by Councilmember Herbold to extend this period from 6 months to a year wasn’t offered or considered.
In my view, all by themselves, this legislation doesn’t do all that much damage except that it will be nettlesome to administer and opens housing providers to problems if a mistake gets made (like not giving the notice of the payment plan, for example). There is also nothing that holds the resident accountable for non-payment. Given the Mayor’s silence on all this, I think it doesn’t make sense to ask for a veto on these.
Some of you might find it interesting that Councilmember Gonzalez thanked the Washington Multifamily Housing Association (WMFHA) for their input on the legislation.
There’s More Ill Considered Housing Legislation Coming
The City Council has become a factory for bad housing policy. Last week the Council hurriedly passed legislation that would, in effect, extend the emergency ban on evictions for six months, a period that will extend into the winter eviction ban which lasts until February of 2021. But that’s not enough. Without any debate, on Monday at 2PM, the full Council will likely pass two more bills, one on eviction records and the other on forced loans for unpaid rent.
The first bill, CB 119787, is plain bizarre. It prohibits the use of any eviction during the emergency or the period that the emergency eviction ban is extended for 6 months. The obvious question is, “Why pass this when nobody is supposed to be evicted during that time due to non-payment?” Good question. My suspicion is that some Councilmembers are planning to widen the prohibition on use of past evictions to evaluate a person looking for a lease. This will increase risk and ultimately prices for housing. No housing providers were talked to or consulted on this or the second bill.
That bill, CB 119788, imposes a payment scheme that is a one size fits all solution without any consequences for non-payment. Worse, the scheme is basically a forced loan without interest for back rent. This doesn’t help pay operating expenses like utilities or taxes. Housing providers have to front the cash, waiting for it for as long as six months. What happens if a provider has numerous residents on these plans? The provider will have to find other sources of cash to cover expenses that will not go away.
If you’d like to weigh in on these proposals now is the time. It seems unlikely that the Council will do any outreach to housing providers between now and then. This is your chance to tell them what you think below.
Council Extends the Eviction Ban: You Were Ignored
| The Seattle City Council went ahead and passed an extension to the COVID-19 eviction ban. Here’s the email I sent out to our mailing list. It is a short explanation and has a link to a key staff person in the Mayor’s office if you’d like to urge a veto. That likely will not happen with a 9-0 vote. |
| Greetings, To the many of you who took the time to write to the Seattle City Council to urge them to vote “No” on a 6 month extension of the COVID-19 eviction ban, THANK YOU! Sadly, the City Council ignored the more than 430 messages sent asking them to consider the damage this extension will do. The legislation, Extends the ban 6 months after then end of the Mayor’s declared COVID-19 emergency (we don’t know when that will be), likely overlapping it with the winter eviction ban; The legislation was written by largely by plaintiff attorneys that defend evictions, so it creates a defense for someone facing eviction. All a resident has to do is say they lost income because of COVID-19 and that he tried to get help. Councilmember Gonzalez misrepresented what the legislation does by saying it still allows evictions, which it technically does. But the defense mentioned above will be almost impossible to overcome, ensuring a favorable outcome for the resident. Finally, the Council removed language that would have created a court enforced payment plan. The resident can do whatever they can, but there is no force to the payment plan. The City Council chose to listen to one defense attorney over your 430 voices. If you haven’t yet please make a contribution today. And get ready for the next fight: removing the ability to screen tenants for past evictions. When I know more about this proposal, I’ll be in touch. PS The Mayor has no email but her deputy Mayor Mike Fong does. You can send an email to mike.fong@seattle.gov urging a veto from the Mayor. Please note that the legislation passed 9-0. |
One More Chance to Say, “No!” to Eviction Ban Extension
Even though people are home, quarantined, they are still busy. That’s why I am impressed with the over 300 people and still counting that have taken the time to send an email message to the Seattle City Council urging them to stop damaging the housing economy and back off a catastrophic extension of the eviction ban 6 months beyond the end of the emergency. If you sent a message, thank you! If you haven’t you still can send one here. And if you have time, you can sign up at noon tomorrow to speak at the Council’s 2PM meeting. Here’s some instructions and thoughts below.
How does this virtual meeting public comment thing work?
If you want to speak you need to go to this address just before noon tomorrow: https://www.seattle.gov/council/committees/public-comment
Follow the instructions on that page and fill out the sign in form. You’ll get a confirmation email telling you what to do next. It is quite possible, just like in real life, that you won’t get a chance to speak if there are lots of people signed in, but if enough people are determined, some will get through.
What should I say?
Keep it simple and concise. You won’t have a lot of time. Here’s some bullets and a sample.
- Say your name, and what neighborhood you’re from
- Let them know you are a HOUSING PROVIDER. Don’t say “landlord” or “tenant,” say “housing provider” and “resident” or “customer.”
- Talk about your approach to your work and why you love what you do
- How do you treat your residents and customers?
- Why do you oppose the extension of the ban and what will it mean for you?
- Thank the Council for listening.
Here’s and example. No, this isn’t true about me. It’s an example.
“My name is Roger Valdez and I live on Capitol Hill and I am a housing provider with 33 apartment buildings I own and manage in Ballard. Our family has owned our building since the 1950s, and we all grew up knowing the people in our building. We have kept the building because we love serving our customers. Some of our residents have lost jobs, and we’ve worked with them. They don’t need an eviction ban, they need income and their unemployment benefits. Some have waited for 6 weeks and still hav no benefits and can’t get through to the state. Please work with us to help our residents, get the state and federal government to provide them with the income assistance they deserve. Thank you for listening.”
And if you want more ideas, watch this great video of housing providers in Chicago. Listen to HOW they speak and the words they use.
