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The City of Seattle
Ordinance
Council Bill
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An ordinance relating to rental agreement regulation; requiring disclosure of fees, prohibiting and limiting certain fees, requiring retention of compliance records, expanding investigation authority, and establishing new enforcement mechanisms; amending Section 7.24.020, 7.24.050, 7.24.060, 7.24.120, and 7.24.130 of, and adding new Sections 7.24.039, 7.24.040, 7.24.045, 7.24.170, 7.24.180, 7.24.190, 7.24.200, 7.24.210, 7.24.220, 7.24.230, and 7.24.240 to, the Seattle Municipal Code.
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Recitals:
Seattle faces an ongoing housing affordability crisis. Market analysis by CoStar and BERK found that, between 2012 and 2022, average monthly rents rose 32 percent, from $1,430 to $1,897, even after adjusting for inflation.1
Rising costs are hurting Seattle residents. The City of Seattle's 2025 Comprehensive Plan found that 38,365 renter households in Seattle are cost burdened, spending 30-50 percent of their income on housing. Another 33,795 renter households are severely cost burdened, with housing costs taking up more than half of their income.2
Rental junk fees are a growing issue within the housing affordability crisis. These unavoidable and often hidden fees increase the cost of living in unexpected and unpredictable ways. A 2023 study by the National Consumer Law Center found that 89 percent of renters paid one or more fees on top of their rent.3
Rental junk fees are often not disclosed up front. A renter may not learn about all the rental fees attached to their housing until lease signing, after they have already spent weeks searching and paid nonrefundable application and move in fees. Tenants are left to choose between paying more than they expected or walking away and losing the time and money they invested.
Rental junk fees exacerbate existing disparities in the rent...
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