PCD 2023-05-01 Item 1A - Policy - Renter Protection Policy Proposals

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behind on rent may be discouraged from requesting an inspection or pursuing other remedies for fear of no-cause lease termination, eviction for a minor lease violation or late rent, or other forms of retaliation or mistreatment. o Increase fines/penalties for property owners who fail to resolve identified issues in a timely manner. Currently, the fines have a low cap and are attached to the property, but the city has little authority to collect, and the fines are not significant enough to deter violations. o Establish a proactive education and outreach program to let tenants know they have a right to an inspection, and update the public facing interface of the inspection program to be more clearly tenant focused. o Posting requirements in a public area (if possible) and documentation provided at time of lease signing and annually thereafter. o No rent increases permitted for units that have failed to pass inspection or are in the process of being inspected at the request of a tenant, or have outstanding requests for repairs, or have defective conditions making the dwelling unlivable, or are otherwise in violation of RCW 59.18.060. o Increase audits and assess the efficacy of third party inspection companies, and assess if changes should be made, including returning to having the city perform all audits. ▪ Regulate additional fees and costs added to rent. Property owners, especially corporate landlords, are increasingly charging a wide variety of arbitrary fees, for everything from delivering a notice to signing a lease renewal to turning on the HVAC. Layering on fees can also be a strategy to get around some renter protection laws. o Ensure that rent increase notice requirements and relocation assistance are based on an increase in total housing costs (including all fixed monthly charges paid to the landlord, e.g. parking, pet rent, storage, flat utility fees) and not just base rent. o Ban or limit other types of fees including notice delivery fees, "admin" and lease renewal fees, month-to-month fees, "service" and "billing" fees, etc. ▪ Remove Social security number requirements. Other jurisdictions including Burien, Kenmore, and Redmond have recognized the need for families to have access to housing as a human right, regardless of immigration status. Creating barriers for people to find homes is harmful to the whole community. ▪ Allow renters on fixed income to change rent due date. Renters living on a fixed income are better able to budget their limited funds when their due date better aligns with the date they receive their payments, without any additional cost to a property owner. ▪ Ban deceptive and abusive practices. In general, property owners and management understand landlord-tenant laws better than the average renter. Unfortunately, some landlords exploit this gap and lie about what rights a tenant has, for example by telling tenants they must pay for repairs that are actually the landlord's responsibility. Better defining and establishing clearer consequences for such behavior can help. ▪ Additional protections worth considering. Nearly all the protections above have some precedent in King County cities. In addition, Seattle has passed some further protections Tukwila might consider: o Ban on most evictions of families & educators during school year o Ban on most winter evictions o Fair Chance Housing law (no criminal background checks) 4