Posted on 03/11/2017 10:24:37 AM PST by reaganaut1
Once cornerstones of America, freedom of contract and property rights are being reduced to rubble by federal, state, and local officials. A case arising out of an ordinance passed in Seattle is illustrative of the trend.
On January 1, a new law took effect there, mandating that landlords rent available apartments to the first prospective tenant who meets “all the screening criteria necessary for the approval of the application.” Under Seattle’s “first in time” rule, landlords cannot see if several people apply and then choose the one they prefer. If a landlord were to do that, he’s now guilty of an “unfair practice” and subject to both city fines and suit from any aggrieved renter.
That law continues and extends the sad politicization of the housing market, with government officials exercising their coercive power and turning landlords into vassals. But it is being challenged in court by a family that wants to preserve what’s left of their contractual freedom.
MariLyn Yim and her husband own one duplex and one triplex in Seattle. They and their three children live in a unit of the triplex and rent the other two. They do not want to give up the right to choose which tenant will move in and live next to them. Compatibility and safety are of great concern to them. The Yims state in this Pacific Legal Foundation press release “We are, literally, mom-and-pop property owners renting out our home to make Seattle affordable for our family….We aren’t corporate landlords sitting on large capital reserves or with hundreds of rentals to spread our risk. One bad tenant could take us years to recover from financially.”
Pacific Legal is representing the Yim family and other plaintiffs in a suit challenging the legality of Seattle’s “first-in-time” mandate.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Since when did Constitutional right to property get transferred to the state
I wish I could support the Pacific Legal Foundation to sue the political body who passed this law both as a group and individually.
With substantial punitive damage award as well as all legal costs.
A good "go fund me" target?
Just wait for that idea to hit employers
The places I have lived at had bad tenants over the years. A duplex I rented had a family in the other unit who were filthy. They had sand so deep that the top of the carpet barely poked thru (how the sand got indoors I do not know). They let their dog go to the bathroom on the carpet in one corner. The stove was so dirty as was the inside of the refrigerator that they had to be thrown out. I saw them move out and even the kitchen table had food scraps stuck to the the top of the table.
But I guess they were first in line.....
The communists aren’t going to stop until we live in third world conditions with third world savages.
Or until we put the hammer down.
I guess this is a lot more common than I realized. I experienced the same thing when I bought my present house at a very attractive price; It was empty at the time, thanks God. Made it easy to eliminate the flea infestation and I had to takes photos of the stove, because no one would believe it.
It had been occupied by a long term divorced woman and her 4 daughters.
I hate to think about what sort of families they created.
So much for using my generally trustworthy woman’s intuition.
Glad we got rid of our rentals.
Kind of reeks of Bolshevism, don’t ya think?
The “Rights” of some are more important than the Rights of others. And the “Rights” of those who are more important are “determined” by the Leftists. That is at the heart of the Democrat/Socialist/Leftist philosophy.
Seattle landlords sue over city’s first-come, first-served rental law
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