43rd District Rep. Nicole Macri says new eviction reform is moving ahead in Olympia. Her bill to extend the legally required “pay or vacate” period has moved out of the House with a 54-44 vote and will now head to the state Senate.
“I’m really excited for these new protections for renters that will allow people a little bit more time when they fall behind on rent and part of our key strategies to help people maintain their homes and drive affordability and make sure we are preventing displacement across the state,” Macri said.
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House Bill 1453 would extend the current 3-day notice to pay or vacate to 14 days,” ensuring that families have a little bit more time when they fall behind on rent.”
“There is no other situation where a person or family could lose something so critical, so quickly, and evidence shows that evictions are a leading cause of homelessness,” Macri’s office says about the bill.
Last year, CHS reported on a study of Seattle evictions that showed that 86.5% of eviction filings were for nonpayment of rent and of these, 52.3% were for one month or less in rent. The numbers also showed that women and people of color were much more likely to be evicted over small amounts of owed rent.
Research has shown that eviction is one of the leading causes of homelessness.
The Seattle City Council has also resolved to address the city’s eviction problems.
Is there money in this bill to help pay for the overdue rent, or is this something landlords are just expected to absorb as a cost of doing business?
No landlord in his/her right mind moves to evict somebody just because they’re 3 days late on rent. If you get that notice to pay-or-vacate, you’ve probably had MULTIPLE chances before it gets to that. A portion of City of Seattle rules:
Unless otherwise noted, an owner must give a termination notice at least 20 days before the start of the next rental period. Good causes include:
1. The tenant fails to pay rent within 3 days of receiving a notice to pay rent or vacate.
2. The owner has notified the tenant in writing of overdue rent at least 4 times in a 12-month period.
3. The tenant does not comply with a material term of a lease or rental agreement within 10 days of receiving a notice to comply or vacate.
4. The tenant does not comply with a material obligation under the Washington State Residential Landlord-Tenant Act within 10 days of a notice to comply or vacate.
5. The owner has notified a tenant in writing at least 3 times in a 12-month period to comply within 10 days with a material term of the lease or rental agreement.
It does bear mentioning, though, those are Seattle rules. The rest of the State is probably a different story. People in Seattle already have some pretty strong protections.
Eviction or course leads to homelessness. That’s like saying fire leads to burns. The actual eviction is simply a result of behavior that leads to chronic homelessness. Drugs, mental illness are the leading causes. Not evictions. This bill will do nothing but raise costs for building owners. Those costs will be passed on. It helps noone stay away from homelessness. Only they can prevent that.
“Research has shown that eviction is one of the leading causes of homelessness.”
Really? It took a study to come to that conclusion? I wonder what genius figured that out?
“A step forward in the right direction. Extending the period can make a huge difference. It can give the renter some time to find social services helping them pay rent or get their affairs in order. Whatever it takes. Seeing that women and people of color are disproportionately affected gives me the idea that they continue to be less respected in this space among many others. It seems like landlords subconsciously trust them less…
If you’re ever in danger of being evicted, there’s help out there. Look to your local churches, social services, and online sites like https://www.evictiony.com/category/eviction-process/“