SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL - Record No: CB 119585

• Record No: CB 119585
• Version: 2
• Council Bill No: CB 119585
• Type: Ordinance (Ord)
• Status: Passed
• Current Controlling Legislative Body: City Clerk
• On agenda: 9/27/2021
• Ordinance No: Ord 126450
• Title: AN ORDINANCE relating to residential rental properties; requiring a minimum of 180 days' prior written notice to tenants whenever the housing costs to be charged a tenant are to increase; and amending Sections 7.24.030, 22.202.080, and 22.206.180 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
• Sponsors: Kshama Sawant
• Supporting documents: 1. Summary and Fiscal Note v2, 2. Summary and Fiscal Note, 3. Amendment 1 (6/22/21), 4. Proposed Substitute (track changes), 5. Proposed Substitute (without track changes), 6. Amendment 2 (added 9/22/21), 7. Signed Ordinance 126450, 8. Affidavit of Publication

Date	Ver.	Action By	Action	Result
10/8/2021	2	City Clerk	attested by City Clerk
10/8/2021	2	Mayor	returned
10/8/2021	2	Mayor	returned unsigned
10/1/2021	2	City Clerk	submitted for Mayor's signature
9/27/2021	2	City Council	passed	Pass
9/21/2021	1	Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee	pass as amended	Pass
7/15/2021	1	Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee	discussed
6/22/2021	1	Sustainability and Renters' Rights Committee	discussed
2/10/2020	1	City Council	re-referred
7/22/2019	1	City Council	referred
7/19/2019	1	Council President's Office	sent for review
7/9/2019	1	City Clerk	sent for review

CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
title
AN ORDINANCE relating to residential rental properties; requiring a minimum of 180 days' prior written notice to tenants whenever the housing costs to be charged a tenant are to increase; and amending Sections 7.24.030, 22.202.080, and 22.206.180 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
body
WHEREAS, Article 25 of the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes housing as a human right; and
WHEREAS, notwithstanding a temporary drop in rents in 2020 due to the pandemic and recession, which fell hardest on low- and moderate-income households, Seattle faces an affordable housing and homelessness crisis as rising rents have forced thousands of Seattle renters out of their homes, neighborhoods, and the City; and
WHEREAS, between 2010 and 2018 average rent in the Seattle area rose 69 percent while inflation for Urban Wage Earners (CPI-W) in the Seattle area rose only 20.3 percent; and
WHEREAS, in large part due to high rents, Seattle is the fifth most expensive U.S. city to live in; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, as Seattle residents begin recover from the pandemic and recession, they are experiencing landlords once again raising rates well above the rate of inflation; and
WHEREAS, rental housing industry analysis firm ApartmentList.com calculated that Seattle rents increased an astounding 3.5 percent just between March and April 2021, the fifth largest month-over-month increase among the nation's 100 largest cities, which is an annualized rate of 42 percent rent increases with a trend expected to continue, as "the days of plummeting rents in pricey coastal markets are officially behind us"; and
WHEREAS, ApartmentList.Com data also show that between January and April 2021, rents across the board in Seattle for apartments of all sizes increased by nine percent, putting rents on track to more than rebound in 2021 from the temporary 2020 drop; and
WHEREAS, the "Seattle Housing Market ...