Should affordable-housing providers be exempt from Tacoma eviction protections?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Affordable housing providers ask Tacoma to exempt them from eviction moratoriums.
- Providers cite rising rent delinquencies, reserve losses, and stalled housing projects.
- Council debate set for Nov. 6; calls for stakeholder collaboration on revisions.
Affordable-housing providers in Tacoma say they should be exempt from eviction restrictions in the city’s Landlord Fairness Code. The Tacoma City Council is considering making exemptions to the code’s eviction protections as it reviews the policy this month.
At the end of October, a coalition of affordable-housing providers and advocates issued a statement urging the city to exempt affordable housing from the “burdensome stipulations” of the code.
Those who signed the written statement are the Tacoma Housing Authority, Tacoma-Pierce County Affordable Housing Consortium, Housing Pierce County (formerly Pierce County Housing Authority), Low Income Housing Institute, Mercy Housing Northwest, Asia Pacific Cultural Center, Asian Pacific Islander Coalition – Pierce County, Catholic Community Services, YWCA Pierce County, Korean Women’s Association, Living Access Support Alliance, Metropolitan Development Council, Spinnaker Property Management and Southport Financial Services.
Tacoma’s Landlord Fairness Code establishes a series of protections for rental tenants, including limits on fees, notices for rent increases, relocation assistance if tenants are displaced by increased rents, and prohibitions on evictions in certain circumstances.
According to the code, landlords cannot evict tenants if buildings do not meet health and safety laws, during cold weather months (Nov. 1 to April 1), or during the school year if a student or educator lives in the unit.
“We share the goal of Tacoma’s Landlord Fairness Code: to build a future in which everyone has an affordable, safe, and nurturing home,” the affordable-housing providers wrote in their statement. “However, after two years of operating under the Landlord Fairness Code, we continue to experience negative, unintended consequences that impede our ability to do our work and serve our community.”
April Black is the executive director of the Tacoma Housing Authority (THA). In an interview with The News Tribune, Black said the Landlord Fairness Code is making it difficult to collect rent from delinquent tenants.
She said THA has about 40% of its housing portfolio occupied by tenants who are behind on rent.
Prior to the Landlord Fairness Code, Black said, tenants behind on rent could be taken to court where a resolution plan could be determined while the debt was still manageable.
“Many tenants facing eviction do not pay their rent for the entirety of the moratoriums, which last many months, followed by a narrow window for the case to proceed through the courts,” THA spokesperson Nick Tolley told The News Tribune. “These tenants end up with staggering debts of thousands of dollars in delinquent rent, making repayment next to impossible for a low-income household and increasing the likelihood of delayed, yet eventual eviction.”
Black said THA is owed so much rent that it is impacting its ability to repay lenders and is cutting into the organization’s reserve funding.
“Today, due to mounting delinquent rent, our ability to secure investments that would pay to build more affordable units in Tacoma and improve our current stock of affordable housing is in jeopardy,” the affordable-housing providers wrote in their statement.
She said the Landlord Fairness Code is preventing THA from evicting delinquent tenants to make units available to the thousands of people waiting for housing.
“A lot of people owe 12 months or more, some are two years behind,” Black told The News Tribune. “Historically, those would either be people who would either be resolving that rent issue and staying in their unit or would have been evicted.”
Tacoma City Council member Sarah Rumbaugh told The News Tribune she would support a change in the Landlord Fairness Code to exempt affordable-housing providers like Tacoma Housing Authority from the eviction moratoriums.
Ty Moore is the co-director of Tacoma For All, the advocacy group that helped get the Landlord Fairness Code Initiative on the ballot in 2023.
In an interview with The News Tribune, Moore said he would support making non-profit affordable-housing providers and public housing agencies like THA exempt from the eviction moratoriums. However, he said private corporations who meet affordable housing requirements to get tax credits should not be.
Moore said any changes to the Landlord Fairness Code should be done with collaboration and input from large housing providers, small landlords and tenants to ensure the policy is fair for all stakeholders.
According to City of Tacoma Spokesperson, Maria Lee, the Landlord Fairness Code is “anticipated” to be a topic during the council’s study session on Nov. 18.
This story was originally published November 9, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
