CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to residential property transactions; requiring certain disclosures to owners before presenting an offer to purchase a residential property; establishing consumer protections for owners of solicited residential property; and adding a new Chapter 6.610 to the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, the City is currently undertaking a major update of its Comprehensive Plan; and
WHEREAS, Mayor Harrell's proposed Growth Strategy will double the City's zoning capacity from 165,000 to 330,000 housing units; and
WHEREAS, providing adequate zoning capacity is a key condition for supporting more housing production; and
WHEREAS, there is broad consensus among researchers and economists that providing adequate housing supply to meet demand is one of the most effective strategies to prevent displacement; and
WHEREAS, displacement occurs when households are forced to involuntarily move for economic or physical reasons (e.g., can no longer afford housing because of increasing costs or building is being demolished for new development); and
WHEREAS, while increasing zoning capacity is critical, other measures are also needed to mitigate displacement pressures and help keep residents in their communities; and
WHEREAS, the City recently committed historic levels of local investment in subsidized affordable housing, amounting to nearly $350 million in 2024 alone; and
WHEREAS, the City has a number of programs and policies to mitigate displacement and has invested more than $50 million for these programs in 2025; and
WHEREAS, on January 29, 2025, Mayor Harrell issued an Executive Order directing City departments to undertake certain actions to improve the City's efforts to mitigate displacement pressures; and
WHEREAS, as part of the Executive Order, Mayor Harrell directed the Department of Finance and Administrative Services to develop legislation to protect homeowners against...
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