CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to housing and displacement mitigation; expanding the information required under the Rental Registration Inspection Ordinance for rental housing units; requiring submission of information to a research university; and amending Sections 22.214.010 and 22.214.040 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, Executive Order 2019-02 (“Actions to Increase Affordability and Address Residential Displacement”) determined, among other things, that:
“[E]conomic pressures are driving displacement of residents from their long-standing communities; and…without thoughtful policies, deliberate planning and investment during this period of unprecedented growth and change, we risk displacement of long-time community members”; and
WHEREAS, in March 2019, Resolution 31870 stated that the City should “[d]evelop a consistent and thorough monitoring and reporting process regarding housing production and loss of households at 30 to 120 percent AMI, including change of tenure and net change in affordable units on a particular development site, and deducting housing units funded by OH [Seattle Office of Housing]”; and
WHEREAS, the July 2019 report prepared for the City’s Office of Planning and Community Development by the Urban Displacement Project, University of California, Berkeley, titled Heightened Displacement Risk Indicators for the City of Seattle’s Equitable Development Monitoring Program, states that “a more granular and localized” data set is needed to “best meet the City’s racial equity goals”; and
WHEREAS, in its September 29, 2021 response to Statement of Legislative Intent OPCD-004-A-001, (“Report by OPCD, OH, and SDCI on displacement monitoring gaps”) the City determined that there are currently no sources that provide rental information data with a high level of granularity; and
WHEREAS, the Council intends that the submission of information regarding the number and size of residential rental units and rental amounts to a research university contracted to provide a report to the City will help to fill the identified data gaps and better allow the City to make policy to decrease displacement risk and gentrification and inform updates to the City’s Comprehensive Plan update; and
WHEREAS, the Council intends for the Office of Planning and Community Development or other executive department to enter into a contract with a research university to provide the City with reports analyzing this data and continue to hold such a contract for as long as the City requires the designated information be provided to the designated research university; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The City Council finds and declares that it is necessary for the City to have and maintain a sufficiently descriptive and complete list of all rental housing units in Seattle, including analyses of market rate housing to inform policies to prevent and mitigate displacement of low-income households and the development and implementation of City programs.
Section 2. Section 22.214.010 of the Seattle Municipal Code, last amended by Ordinance 124312, is amended as follows:
22.214.010 Declaration of purpose
The City Council finds that establishing a Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance is necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the public; ((and)) prevent deterioration and blight conditions that adversely impact the quality of life in the city; and mitigate displacement. This shall be accomplished by requiring rental housing be registered and properly maintained, ((and)) that substandard housing conditions be identified and corrected, and that owners certify to the City that they have submitted information about rental units for data analysis.
Section 3. Section 22.214.040 of the Seattle Municipal Code, last amended by Ordinance 126157, is amended as follows:
22.214.040 Rental housing registration, compliance declaration, and renewals
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G. An application for a rental housing registration shall be made to the Department on forms provided by the Director. The application shall include, but is not limited to:
1. The address of the property;
2. The name, address, and telephone number of the property owners;
3. The name, address, and telephone number of the registration applicant if different from the property owners;
4. The name, address, and telephone number of the person or entity the tenant is to contact when requesting repairs be made to their rental housing unit, and the contact person's business relationship to the owner;
5. A list of all rental housing units on the property, identified by a means unique to each unit, that are or may be available for rent at any time((;)) . In addition, a certification signed by the owner, or its authorized representative, shall be submitted stating that it has provided to the research university selected by the Office of Planning and Community Development or other executive department, pursuant to Chapter 20.50, the same list of all rental housing units on the property, together with the following additional details for each unit, on the schedule set out in subsection 22.214.040.H.2:
a. Whether it is vacant or occupied; the net rentable square footage; the number of bedrooms; the number of bathrooms; and
b. Information sufficient to ascertain the total net monthly residential rent charged, including but not limited to total monthly residential rent being charged or to be charged if vacant (excluding any parking, storage, and other non-residential charges), as well as the amount and identity of utilities paid by the owner included in the rent charge; and, if subject to a rental agreement, the current length of the term of the rental agreement.
The additional information submitted to the research university under this subsection 22.214.040.G.5 shall not include the name(s) of the tenant(s). The Office of Planning and Community Development or other executive department will enter into a contract with the research university directing the latter to use its unique expertise, including but not limited to its diverse array of academic resources, to sort, analyze, and report on this data to identify relevant displacement risks for the City to use in policy and decision-making regarding housing.
6. A declaration of compliance from the owner or owner's agent, declaring that all housing units that are or may be available for rent are listed in the registration application and meet or will meet the standards in this Chapter 22.214 before the units are rented; and
7. A statement identifying whether the conditions of the housing units available for rent and listed on the application were established by declaration of the owner or owner's agent, or by physical inspection by a qualified rental housing inspector.
H. A rental housing registration must be renewed according to the following procedures:
1. A registration renewal application and the renewal fee shall be submitted before the current registration expires;
2. All information required by subsection 22.214.040.G shall be updated as needed, except the information required to be submitted by subsection 22.214.040.G.5 to a research university, which shall be submitted by the owner at least twice annually by March 31 and by August 31 each year following the initial registration for information on the months of February and July of that same year, respectively; and((,))
3. A new declaration as required by subsection 22.214.040.G.6 shall be submitted.
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Section 4. The provisions of this ordinance are declared to be separate and severable. The invalidity of any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section, or portion of this ordinance, or the invalidity of its application to any person or circumstance, does not affect the validity of the remainder of this ordinance or the validity of its application to other persons or circumstances.
Section 5. This ordinance shall take effect and be in force 30 days after its approval by the Mayor, but if not approved and returned by the Mayor within ten days after presentation, it shall take effect as provided by Seattle Municipal Code Section 1.04.020.
Passed by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2022, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its passage this _____ day of _________________________, 2022.
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President _____________ of the City Council
Approved / returned unsigned / vetoed this ________ day of _________________, 2022.
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Bruce A. Harrell, Mayor
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2022.
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Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)