(The Center Square) – The Rental Housing Association of Washington, or RHAWA, is calling on its members to fight against a November ballot measure in Tacoma that would increase tenant protections.
A citizen’s group called Tacoma For All successfully put a renter protection initiative known as a Tenant Bill of Rights on the upcoming November ballot. It would require more notice for rent increases, require landlords to offer relocation assistance if the rent increases more than 5% and would ban evictions during the winter and evictions of students and educators during the school year, among other protections.
RHAWA said the proposed ballot measure would severely degrade the rental housing market in Tacoma and would “likely lead to hundreds of currently affordable rental housing units being moved off the market in 2024.”
Sean Flynn, RHAWA executive director, pointed to Seattle, where she blamed a loss in rental properties on a tenant protections passed by the city council, specifically protections championed by Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant.
There was a 2% decrease in registered rental properties. There were a total of 26,519 properties registered by the end of 2022, a loss of 567 registrations from 2021, according to a report by the Seattle Department of Construction & Inspections.
The report notes that the decline in registered rentals may be attributed to more rental properties being sold and becoming owner-occupied or it may be that some landlords neglected to, or decided not to, renew their registrations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Flynn believes the same thing could end up happening in Tacoma if voters pass the initiative this fall.
“The Socialist Party of Seattle is taking to Tacoma their failed public policies that are degrading the Seattle affordable rental housing market and reducing available units which makes it tougher for renters to find a place to live,” Flynn said in a statement.
The Center Square previously reported on a Pierce County Superior Court Judge ordering the county to remove the Tacoma City Council’s own tenant protection measure from the ballot.
The council’s measure would require landlords to comply with health and safety laws and sets limits on late fees for rent and on pet deposits.
The measure would also requires landlords to have a city business license before increasing rent or evicting tenants, require only one 120-day notice to raise rent, add new regulations for shared housing and standardize screening criteria for the amount of tenant income required to qualify for housing.
The general election is Nov. 7.
