CITY OF SEATTLE
ORDINANCE __________________
COUNCIL BILL __________________
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AN ORDINANCE relating to the renewal or continuation of residential rental tenancies; requiring a landlord have just cause for refusing to renew or continue a rental agreement for a specified time; and amending Sections 7.24.030 and 22.206.160 of the Seattle Municipal Code.
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WHEREAS, the Washington State Legislature has declared a state policy to help residents who are experiencing a temporary crisis in retaining stable housing to avoid eviction from their homes, as expressed in Laws of 2019, ch. 356, ? 1; and
WHEREAS, in September 2018, the Seattle Women's Commission and the King County Bar Association jointly published Losing Home: The Human Cost of Eviction in Seattle, finding that households who are evicted face material hardships that make it more difficult to secure safe and affordable housing and that the most disadvantaged groups face the highest likelihood of eviction; and
WHEREAS, the Council passed a just cause eviction ordinance (JCEO) in 1980 in Ordinance 109219, which prohibits landlords from terminating a tenancy without just cause; and
WHEREAS, Ordinance 109219 states that "arbitrary eviction of responsible tenants imposes upon such tenants the hardship of locating replacement housing and provides no corresponding benefit to property owners"; and
WHEREAS, this statement in Ordinance 109219 is still relevant, as Losing Home found that most evicted respondents became homeless, with 37.5 percent completely unsheltered, 25.0 percent living in a shelter or transitional housing, and 25.0 percent staying with family or friends. Only 12.5 percent of evicted respondents found another apartment or home to move into; and
WHEREAS, finding replacement housing in Seattle's rental housing market is difficult; and
WHEREAS, Losing Home found that 51.7 percent of tenants in eviction filings were people of color and 31.2 percent were Black, 4.5 times more than the Black populatio...
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