(The Center Square) – Landlords in Bellingham could potentially see further increases to registration fees as the city council is considering hiking said fees to help fund enforcement of renters’ rights.
The city council is seeking laws to prohibit excessive fees in residential rental agreements and leases, as well as mobile home lease agreements. In order to do so, city staff identified the proposal to hire an additional code compliance officer who will educate landlords and tenants about any rent agreement ordinances.
According to a city staff memo, existing staff resources are insufficient to support excessive fee enforcement. Staff are recommending the city council approve funding the required code compliance officer by increasing rental registration fees by $10 per unit annually.
Bellingham would need to generate additional revenue ranging from $179,494 to $217,457 annually, depending on which salary step the employee is hired into. To cover the potential costs, the city is exploring a $10 increase on fees.
In 2015, the city’s Rental Registration and Safety Inspection program was approved and launched with the purpose of protecting tenants’ public health by encouraging landlords to conduct proper maintenance.
The program implements a registration fee that was originally set at $10 per unit for properties with 1 – 20 units and $8 per unit for properties with 21 or more units.
The initial 2015 program included one administrative position and one safety inspector.
However, after completing the first cycle of inspections the city determined that the program needed to be enhanced and the fee structure supporting the additional resources was approved in late 2023. The updated registration fee is now $20 per unit for properties with one to 20 units and $16 per unit for properties with 21 or more units.
An additional fee increase, as proposed by city staff, would set rental registration fees to $30 per unit for properties with 1-20 units and $26 per unit for properties with 21 or more units.
There are currently 21,841 residential units currently registered in the program.
Some city council members are concerned that the prohibition of residential landlords charging tenants excessive fees will not be enforced.
“I do not want to pass something that is not enforced – that’s a big issue,” Bellingham City Councilmember Edwin Williams said during Monday’s city council meeting. “I believe that we have a history of that in other areas.”
No action was taken on the proposal. The city council will continue discussions on the bill in the future.
