Posted on 01/31/2020 6:30:57 PM PST by karpov
Affordable-housing shortages are an abiding challenge for cities around the nation. But often policies meant to alleviate the problem aggravate it instead. That’s certainly the case in Seattle, where the City Council imposed a pair of ordinances aimed at restricting property owners’ right to choose their tenants.
These misguided laws, recently upheld by the Washington Supreme Court, attempt to solve problems caused by the housing shortage by destroying property rights. Property owners in other cities should take note: Such reforms have a tendency to spread once they take root.
The two ordinances in question strip landlords of the right to decide who will occupy their property. Seattle’s “first in time” rule requires landlords to set rental criteria in advance and then rent to the first person who walks in the door with an adequate application. There are plenty of good reasons a landlord might prefer a different tenant, including socially beneficial ones such as a desire to help a struggling family.
The second law prohibits a landlord from inquiring about or considering an applicant’s criminal history—deemed an “unfair practice” that can subject the landlord to severe civil penalties. The federal government requires background checks for federally assisted housing, and for good reason: Criminal history bears directly on factors like reliability, creditworthiness and safety.
Both Seattle laws purport to reduce discrimination in housing and help beleaguered minorities, even though there’s no evidence that Seattle landlords engage in widespread discrimination. Taken together, these laws thrust landlords blindly into long-term lease relationships with renters they didn’t choose.
A small band of mom-and-pop landlords, represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation, sued the city over both ordinances. Marilyn Yim owns a triplex in Seattle. She lives with her husband and children in one of the units and rents out the other two.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
It is outlawed now. No credit check, no background check, no big deposits or collecting them upfront.
I sold my Seattle properties a couple years ago and got the heck out of there. I still get the Seattle landlord email announcing this or that new seminar to keep abreast of the ever-coming new rules being enacted.
rental properties will be shutdown just like businesses in Seattle....
No where to get hired, no place to live, derelicts all over the sidewalks and lawns, taxes and fees still going way up.
Maybe people will be so depressed with the bleakness of the failing city they will commit suicide. Politicians will note fewer alive to get entitlements and smile over the cost savings in their budget.
Ooh, thanks! I’ll have to check those out.
Wow, he hits the nail on the head!
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