Here’s how the controversial Tenant Bill of Rights was faring after Tuesday’s tally
Tacoma for All’s controversial tenant bill of rights measure was behind in early election results Tuesday night in a tight race. The measure was failing with 51% of voters against and 48.9% in favor.
Initiative 2023-01 faced many hurdles this fall, including an attempt from the Tacoma City Council to put a more moderate renter’s rights measure on the ballot alongside Tacoma for All’s initiative before a judge struck it down as “misleading and confusing” because the city had already passed that measure into law. In early November dozens of Tacoma for All’s campaign signs were also reported stolen and vandalized with swastikas.
Tacoma for All’s ballot initiative would amend the city of Tacoma’s rental housing code to give renters additional rights, including relocation assistance in cases of 5% or more rent increases, the creation of a tenant and landlord code of conduct and a defense against evictions from November through April, among other changes.
Under Tacoma for All’s initiative, landlords would have had to pay tenants at least two months rent if they decided to relocate after receiving a notice of their rent increasing 5% or more. Some local landlords and developers said those measures would’ve gone too far and made the local housing market more unstable, leading to more corporate ownership and higher rents.
“I can’t tell you how happy I am, because this is not only a win for property owners, it’s a win for tenants,” said Donna Walters, a small Tacoma landlord The News Tribune spoke to in October about her opposition to Measure 1.
Walters said she’s still nervous about how close the race is.
“It’s nerve-wracking, I’m walking around like a caged animal right now,” she said. “If this would have passed, and I’m hoping to God it doesn’t, but if it passes, it’s going to be terrible for tenants and well as property providers because so many mom and pop [landlords] are going to get out. We just can’t take the risk, especially if the eviction ban would be abused.”
Walters said tenants and landlords are both struggling, and landlords would raise rents if Measure 1 passed to offset their costs.
“Even if we lose by just a small percentage, that’s OK,” she said. “That’s OK, because we can still fight this … win or lose, we’re still going.”
Ben Maritz, a private affordable housing developer operating in Tacoma, said it’s too early to call a result but more affordable housing is a shared goal.
“I think that my general feeling about Tacoma for All is that it comes from the right place, right? It’s there because of the real frustration with the rising cost of housing,” he said. “And whether it passes or doesn’t pass, we need to figure out how to bring more housing to Tacoma because ultimately, that’s the only way to bring supply and demand into balance and to stabilize rents for our region.”
Maritz said the Tacoma City Council already passed “one of the most stringent renter protection packages in the region” in July.
“So Tacoma renters should be happy with that, and I think the entire city should be focused on how do we make sure that we can attract investment and continue to build housing,” he said.
Tacoma for All says victory is close
Spokesperson Ann Dorn told the News Tribune Tacoma for All believes a victory is close.
“We’re celebrating over here. Typically with progressive initiatives, late votes are going to be in our favor,” she said. “This is obviously very, very close. And it’s our expectation that as the votes continue to come in that we’re going to see an increasing percentage of votes in favor of Initiative 1. We believe that victory, we believe that we’ve won.”
Dorn said the close race “shows that working people demand more tenant protections.”
“I think we’re really proud that Tacoma is on the verge of passing the strongest tenant protections in Washington state,” she said. “I think it’s important to mention other cities and even state legislators are going to be looking to Tacoma kind of as a bellwether of things to come.”
Dorn said their opposition outspent her group by a large margin, and she disputed claims that the initiative would risk progress the city has made on affordable housing.
Even if the measure does fail, Dorn said she sees the fight for tenant rights continuing.
“We believe that it’s likely victory, but I think the margin shows that tenant rights are popular and are needed, and that working families in Tacoma want this,” she said. “They want tenant protections.”
Opponents of the measure, including some local landlords and the Tacoma-Pierce County Association of Realtors, argued the measure would make the housing market unstable, resulting in more corporate ownership and higher rents.
The debate comes as Pierce County faces a housing shortage, with an acute need for moderate, low, very low and extremely low-income housing. About a third of all households in Pierce County (over 100,000 people) are cost-burdened, meaning they spend over 30% of their income on housing.
Around 44% of Tacoma households are renters.
An ordinance passed by the Tacoma City Council in July included many changes to the city’s rental housing code including:
Requiring landlords to provide at least 120 days’ written notice for rent increases, instead of 60 days.
Requiring landlords to comply with city licensing and safety requirements before increasing rent or evicting tenants.
Prohibiting landlords from using some practices to screen tenants, including requiring a Social Security number or having a blanket ban on renting to anyone with a felony conviction or arrest record.
Barring landlords from requiring that renters make more than 2.5 or 3 times the monthly rent.
Adding standards requiring landlords and master lease holders to comply with new shared housing regulations, in cases where tenants may rent a private room but share common areas.
This story was originally published November 7, 2023 at 8:14 PM.
