Mayor extends eviction moratorium one more month

11:34 AM: Seattle’s eviction moratorium – which was about to expire – will be extended another month. Mayor Bruce Harrell announced that decision this morning. He’s also continuing to suspend utility shutoffs for another 90 days, and continuing the suspension of “booting” parking-ticket scofflaws indefinitely. The eviction moratorium affects residential, small business, and nonprofit tenants and their landlords, and that will continue until February 14th. The mayor is also issuing an order telling city departments to collect data on effects of the moratorium, and to evaluate coordination of the types of relief that are available, among other big-picture steps. We’ll link the full announcement when it’s available.

1:13 PM: Here’s the announcement.

31 Replies to "Mayor extends eviction moratorium one more month"

  • Mj January 12, 2022 (11:44 am)

    Enough already, there are plenty of jobs available and it’s time landlords, in particular small one’s, be made whole or be able to address non payment accordingly.

  • Plf January 12, 2022 (12:14 pm)

    I’m disappointed that this has been extended,makes the assumption all landowners are  large cooperation s many are small time landlords, so folks don’t make their rent a property owner does not get a variance  with their mortgage payment im aware of several tenets who worked from their apartment have made no rent payment and plan to  move when the rent is lifted zero intention of paying back rent,  this whole situation was not thought out well

  • Brian January 12, 2022 (12:28 pm)

    Good. 

  • Confuse January 12, 2022 (12:45 pm)

    So do the tenants still have to pay the rent when it is all over?How about the landlords?

    • flimflam January 12, 2022 (2:22 pm)

      This has to be tough on smaller time landlords and really isn’t fair to them – I really can’t imagine someone that hasn’t paid rent in a year to be in a position to make it up in a timely fashion. If the city wants to do this landlords should be able to delay city tax payments, etc until they are able to collect all of their back rent.

      • Brian January 12, 2022 (4:18 pm)

        They could always just sell the highly profitable asset they own if they’re not financially solvent. 

        • Amy January 12, 2022 (4:49 pm)

          100% agree. 

        • SadAboutBridge January 12, 2022 (6:16 pm)

          Yes, they could. But then one of a few scenarios play out:1. Property gets purchased by someone who plans to live in the home, further reducing rental supply (and driving up rental prices).2. Property gets purchased by a big corporate investor and rented out at higher than previous rental rates (driving up rental rates).3. Property gets purchased by a developer who tears it down and builds a massive new home or multiple townhomes, they sell them for market rates (further reducing rental supply and driving up rent prices).None of these scenarios are good for the renter. But hey, at least they didn’t have to pay rent for two years. Seattle is going to destroy its small local landlord community with these moratoriums and policies despite saying they will help renters. 

          • Peter S. January 12, 2022 (8:49 pm)

            Exactly.  Folks like Brian believe all landlords are despicable parasites and don’t realize that many small-time landlords  have personal relationships with their tenants, worked long and hard to acquire one or maybe a couple of modest properties, and only want a reasonable return on investment.  Since the pandemic started, my property taxes have gone up despite the broken bridge, my insurance has gone up significantly despite no filed claims (thanks in part to the no-credit-score-factor decree), and my maintenance costs have gone up.  But, I haven’t been able to increase rents to compensate.  I’m constantly deluged with offers from developers to sell out.  At some point that becomes financially compelling and if I do, a couple of really nice, working class families will be looking for a new place to live, because the replacement structures won’t be affordable to them.  Maybe Brian will take them in.

        • bill January 12, 2022 (9:23 pm)

          Even in Seattle’s market real estate ownership is a long game, Brian. When you sell your “highly profitable asset” you pay: 5-6% to the real estate agent, 1% to the state, a couple more percent for various fees, pay off the loan if the property was mortgaged, and then pay capital gains tax if you made a profit. During the first years of ownership a landlord would be lucky to break even if forced to sell. In our market breakeven might occur in 3 years, but that is exceptionally fast and only because of our strong local market. And then you might be left with almost no profit for all the hassle and stress you endured. What about all that rent you raked in? In my case 5-6 months of rent pays the property tax, insurance, and income tax. After that there is the little matter of loan payments and trying to set aside something for upkeep. Buy some property Brian, and learn the costs of painting, and roof, space heater and water heater replacement.

          • Brian January 13, 2022 (8:48 am)

            I own a house. One house that I live in. Seems like enough. 

          • Matt January 13, 2022 (2:09 pm)

            Brian – Do people not have a right to retirement?  Many of your neighbors rely on (sometimes only one) rental property as part of their long-term plan to take care of the basic costs of living (in a notably expensive area of the country).  Your “one house seems like enough” comment is extremely self-focused and narrow-minded.

  • jissy January 12, 2022 (1:15 pm)

    Well of course he did.  So predictable.

  • CarDriver January 12, 2022 (1:21 pm)

    Too many people assume EVERY landlord is “wealthy” and can easily write off any non-payments. By punishing them they’ll give themselves a self-fulfilling prophesy and indeed will drive them out of the rental business. The only ones left WILL be the corporate and out of state owners. Do you really think things will be better then???  I’d love to hear your reason why.

  • I'm Lucky January 12, 2022 (3:38 pm)

    I’ve been very lucky having a tenant able to pay rent on my rental home.  That rent is what I need to live off of.   I’d be up a stream without a paddle if my renters opted to not pay me …….because they didn’t have to.  I probably would’ve had to sell the place.

    • Foop January 13, 2022 (1:00 am)

      Sounds like an irresponsible business decision. Owning a business is risky.

  • Jim P. January 12, 2022 (3:51 pm)

    Parking tickets have no connection to poverty or joblessness.

    You acquire them voluntarily.

    This just gives people a free hand to park wherever and whenever they will.

    Driveway blocked for the fifth time this month? Tough.

    Parked in a bus stop so wheelchairs and blind people have issues?
    Good for you, that’s how you stick it to the “man”.

    The Anarchists may yet get to see how things work under their “system”.

    • Scrappy January 12, 2022 (7:59 pm)

      If a vehicle is parked illegally, parking enforcement will cite and impound according to situation, regardless of scofflaw status. The scofflaw portion of enforcement is in regards to booting vehicles for four or more unpaid parking violations. 

      • 🤦‍♂️ January 13, 2022 (2:33 am)

        There are only a couple of PEOs in WS. There’s no way to deal with the number of scofflaws with that small of a staff. Plus I know based on information from a supervisor, PEOs have been taken off patrols to staff covid testing sites so there are even fewer resources available to address illegal parking.

  • Pessoa January 12, 2022 (5:48 pm)

    I am bemused to see the outrage at the state stepping into between two private parties and their contractual agreement, though elsewhere this heavy handed state interference is perfectly acceptable.  

    • bill January 12, 2022 (9:52 pm)

      I think the eviction moratorium is perfectly acceptable and indeed such “heavy-handed state interference” is a hallmark of an advanced society protecting its less fortunate members. The outrage is caused by the cost being shouldered entirely by landlords who are expected to keep paying taxes and mortgage without income. A better thought-out policy would spread the cost across the entire tax base.

      • StopCuttingDownTrees January 13, 2022 (12:06 am)

        Many tenants have higher incomes than their small-time landlords.

      • Foop January 13, 2022 (1:01 am)

        Have land lords considered getting a job? The irony of this argument is ridiculous.

        • StopCuttingDownTrees January 13, 2022 (4:32 am)

          My wife and I are landlords and we also have jobs. We’re lucky because our tenants are paying (they have high incomes). 

      • Pessoa January 13, 2022 (1:00 pm)

        Bill: I will amend that to say that the hallmark of an advanced society is a fair society.  A society that is not fair cannot really be compassionate.  The terms are frequently confused, but they are not the same and the distinction is important.   We might agree – or not – that penalizing landlords to benefit renters (covid relief aside) might be seen as compassionate, but we might also agree that it is also unfair.  A society that obsessively promotes “compassion” to the detriment of fairness, is a society in decline. It also usually leads to more and more government intervention picking “winners” and “losers.”.  

  • TJ January 12, 2022 (5:55 pm)

    The government has no business getting involved in a legally binding agreement between 2 willing parties. Seattle already has some of the strongest renter protections in the country, but this is complete overreach. Why extend it now when there are so many jobs available? These people owe the back rent, and some are in holes so deep it will be tough to pay back. But it is owed and the city needs to make sure renters are made to pay back. People talk about the price of housing here, but prices won’t drop to where they could when the government won’t allow it. In this case here, and in the bubble of 2008. Government was never set up to provide housing to anyone, and needs.

  • HS January 12, 2022 (6:37 pm)

    I read that distributing allocated funds for rental assistance has been a very slow process. 

  • Auntie January 12, 2022 (7:31 pm)

    “continuing the suspension of “booting” parking-ticket scofflaws indefinitely” – why? What does paying ones parking tickets have to do with the necessities of life? You drive a car and park it legally, pay for parking as required, or get tickets and pay them or get booted. It’s not like getting thrown out of your house. WTF Mayor Harrell? 

  • Adam January 12, 2022 (7:54 pm)

    My wife and I rent, and we’ve both been lucky enough to have no disruption to work through the entire pandemic, and I feel for those who haven’t been so lucky. However, I also can’t help but feel for the landlords who are expected to carry the brunt of an inability to pay rent. My landlords are an elderly couple who lived and worked their entire lives in West Seattle, raised their son here, and eventually could finally afford a home to use to build their income. Now they don’t have to simply rely on their savings or retirement or Social Security, all of which are nice to have access to but often not enough. If we didn’t pay them rent, they’d be scrambling to make end’s meet, and would likely have to sell to someone Brian hates even more than just ppl who generally have stuff, like a developer or corporate rental outfit. They don’t rake in the dough, they provide us and our children a home at below market rate because we’ve been great to them and they’ve been great right back to us. That’s just one of many stories of who will bear the burden when someone doesn’t pay rent. Is it sad someone may not have rent? Of course. But why does the next innocent person automatically need to carry it, just because they’re a “landlord”? Why is that such a dirty word? Does everyone think Daddy Warbucks is who owns every rental in West?

  • Deirdre January 12, 2022 (10:34 pm)

    Yes, exactly covid funds and assistance are slow to come in mainly because of the disorganization of the city/state distributing those funds to those who need it. You can’t lockdown, cut off resources and expect people to not be financially challenged. It’s a pandemic. Landlords are covered as well. What’s with the depiction of renters as being low life’s who’ve decided they don’t have to pay any rent at all and the landlord as these virtuous suffering souls. Gimmee a break. Here ya go: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/serving-communities/homelessness/landlord-fund-programs/landlord-relief-program/landlord-covid-relief-program/

    • Dierdre January 12, 2022 (11:50 pm)

      Here’s an article documenting just how slow funds are being distributed and still property owners are not only included in the funding but are able to apply to get the funds before than their tenants even do. Cry me a river…https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/10/08/king-county-distributed-31-of-federal-rental-assi.html

      “King County is committed to supporting tenants and local property owners alike to get through the financial hardships of this lingering pandemic,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a news release. landlords can request advance payments of up to half of the estimated amount due while tenants’ applications are being processed.

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