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With sixth extension of COVID-19 eviction moratorium, Seattle buying more time for federal aid, new programs to help tenants and landlords

Items left outside after a past Capitol Hill eviction (Image: CHS)

Seattle is buying time for thousands of renters and landlords as Mayor Jenny Durkan has signed an executive order for the sixth extension of the city’s moratorium on residential and commercial evictions during the ongoing COVID-19 crisis.

The ban on evictions will now stretch into January 2022. By then, the city will have a new mayor and, perhaps, a plan and the relief funding necessary to emerge from the looming tenant and landlord crisis.

“We led the way as the first major US city to be impacted by COVID-19. Every step of this pandemic, our residents and community listen to science and public health officials, which is why we have the lowest cases, hospitalizations, and deaths of every major city. Seattle continues to show the nation how to protect small businesses and residents by establishing and continuing one of the first in the nation moratoriums on evictions to keep families safe. Our early actions have and continue to keep people safe and housed,” Durkan said on a statement on the extension. “While we face the unexpected rise of the Delta variant, this next extension will ensure every level of government can provide rental assistance and housing support to tenants and landlords, which is critical to stabilizing the community as we reopen and recover.”

UPDATE 9/23/2021 3:10 PM: Gov. Jay Inslee on Thursday announced the state’s eviction ban will be extended through the end of October. “This extension will give counties additional time to get rental relief money out the door,” Inslee said in a statement.

The latest Seattle extension comes as some $46 billion in federal emergency rental assistance is trickling into state and local programs to help renters behind on payments. For some, the assistance will never arrive. In Seattle, the estimate is 60,000 currently behind on rent.

There is hope the ongoing moratorium will provide time for some renters to catch up and for more protections to be put in place to stave off a wave of evictions. In Seattle, New laws have been put in place to help protect tenants once the eviction restrictions are lifted including ordinances requiring payment plan options for late rent during or within six months after the city’s COVID-19 state of emergency ends, a “financial hardship” defense for eviction court proceedings, a ban on eviction during winter months, and a ban on evictions during the school year for families and teachers.

Some local efforts, meanwhile, are channeling relief funding direct to landlords.

There could be time to put more help in place. In Philadelphia, an eviction diversion program that requires landlords and renters to go through mediation before eviction proceedings is hoped to become a model for similar programs nationwide. Meanwhile, even in Pennsylvania, funds for tenant and landlord relief are running thin.

District 3 representative Kshama Sawant, who has made tenant rights a major part of her platform on the council, has restarted her push on rent control in the city to combat what she says are housing costs that are again beginning to skyrocket. With Tuesday’s moratorium extension, Sawant will have more time to also do her part to address the city’s looming eviction crisis.

 

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12 Comments
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lee
lee
2 years ago

So for how many years should landlords be required to house people for free? What will be the effects long term on the rental market? (I’m guessing that many small landlords will just give up and sell their property, given the high risks now entailed with renting it.)
If I was a landlord, I would be freaking out right about now.

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ad
2 years ago
Reply to  lee

People aren’t living for free. Many people are looking at a 50% increase in rent with only an 8 weeks heads up. Why should they expect that, just because the landlords were at one point legally entitled to do so? Maybe landlords should be the ones picking up other jobs.

Jillybean
Jillybean
2 years ago
Reply to  ad

what are you talking about? landlords have to give 120 day notices of rent increase.

Glenn
Glenn
2 years ago

And the landlords. Where are the landlords in all this? Where is the financial assistance promised for those whose income has been deferred for so long while they continue to house non-paying tenants. It is pretty clear the city and county place little emphasis on assisting landlords during this crisis. Rather than constructing easily used programs to assist tenants to pay their rent and landlords to receive the money owed them, our local pols continuously extend the eviction moratorium. Landlords are thereby expected to carry the financial burden for going on two years. This is a disgusting display of governmental overreach and incompetence.

Tom C
Tom C
2 years ago
Reply to  Glenn

Landlords have access to resources just like tenants do. Over 1,500 have signed up so far, and assistance is going out to Tier 1 situations (50-100% delinquency rates) and Tier 2 (20-50%) now. Tiers 3-4 will get support soon.

https://kingcounty.gov/depts/community-human-services/COVID/eviction-prevention-rent-assistance/landlords.aspx

Mortgage forbearance programs have also been available since early in the pandemic. Landlords are doing okay if they’ve done the work to access resources.

Glenn
Glenn
2 years ago
Reply to  Tom C

Mortgage forbearance programs only cover a limited slice of mortgaged commercial properties. Many commercial properties do not fall within the guidelines, leaving a near majority of landlords with no option in that department. And rent relief from Seattle and King county has been incredibly sloooooooow and complicated. It is also unlikely to fully compensate landlords for losses result from tenants who have not paid yet have been allowed to remain in residence. It has become very clear that assisting landlords is not a priority of city government. Much easier to burden them with an unfunded mandate while advancing a political agenda.

Michael Calkins
2 years ago

The landlords in Seattle messed up, yearly rent hiking, making it hard to be remotely close to work, because prices continue to inflate.

I’m glad this moratoriums are happening. Landlords are not entitled to the land in the city, if you don’t want to provide a living space, and instead are trying to extort high rents then I am doubly glad this is happening.

There should be clauses in these moratoriums where drug use or unsafe behavior allows them to be kicked out though.

HTS3
HTS3
2 years ago

Just a question for you Michael. Do you own property here? Have you noticed the dramatically increasing cost of property taxes, construction, utilities, and insurance? Of course rents need to increase. I’m not a residential landlord, but I empathize with them. These small landlords are just like other small businesses—and we love to support our local small businesses, right? They’ve just invested in a few small houses or apartments as their business. And then the government tells them that they can’t demand that their tenants pay to live there. And as people fall thousands of dollars behind, in spite of receiving a lot of support, some tenants are taking advantage of this. To me this just seems another one of those instances where a few people are having to take the brunt of a well-intentioned program. And now some City Council “representatives” are on a mission to limit rent increases to inflation. Yes, that’s 2 to 3% a year. And property taxes alone have doubled in a few years. It doesn’t make sense to me.

dan
dan
2 years ago

Ok. Let’s try your approach. Landlords sell because they can’t raise rent to keep up with rapidly increasing property taxes, utilities and insurance hikes, not to mention repair costs skyrocketing. They buyers convert the properties to condos or commercial use and sell them. Where you gonna live?

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2 years ago

There have been government handouts out the wazoo, and unskilled/service jobs are hiring like crazy.

It is time to pay your rent.

Glenn
Glenn
2 years ago

This headline is clearly inaccurate in that is states “Seattle is buying time….” The city of Seattle isn’t buying anything here because it isn’t paying for anything. Landlords are the ones paying for this eviction moratorium extension.

Ketryna
Ketryna
2 years ago
Reply to  Glenn

Living in New York City I’ve seen the way this situation will work out..landlords are in trouble the policy the Seattle city council is putting into place is going to have lasting effects..evicting tenants will be nearly impossible even if they don’t pay rent..the landlords will have to pay them to leave and the housing counts that are coming will only protect the tenants..I never thought I would see this in Seattle, but it’s here, and landlords as soon as you can sell your property please do..