Lies are being used to attack Tacoma’s Landlord Fairness Code | Opinion
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Tacoma council will consider repeals; advocates urge retention of eviction protections.
- Landlord Fairness Code delays evictions, limits fees, adds notice and licensing rules.
- Opponents spread false claims; code still allows evictions for damage or crime.
The Tacoma City Council will soon consider amendments to the Landlord Fairness Code approved by voters two years ago. Lobbying groups funded by large landlords and property management corporations have called for a repeal of eviction protections in the code.
As homeowners in Tacoma, and most importantly as a right-to-counsel attorneys at Tacomaprobono, we are appealing to city council to maintain the critical protections in the Landlord Fairness Code.
Those who stand in opposition to TMC 1.100 will tell you that the code protects “bad” tenants and makes it difficult and expensive to remove tenants who are “squatting in” or damaging their properties. But in our experience that is not the case. Our organization is listed on every notice to vacate that is issued in Pierce County, so our clientele is about as representative a cross-section of low-income tenants as you can imagine.
In 2024, we represented hundreds of clients, primarily due to circumstances beyond their control. Many of them are on a fixed income: either Social Security, disability, spousal or child support, or minimum wage work.
Prices for everything are rising, and when that includes an increase in rent, these tenants rarely have the resources or support to meet the increased cost. Accessing charitable aid is not easy, and the funds are far outstripped by the need. Consequently, we see veterans, the elderly, disabled and single-parent households facing eviction. In Washington, a tenant has only between 14 and 30 days to find funds to repay their full balance, often including rent, utilities and late fees. That is rarely enough time to apply for and obtain rental assistance or other charitable funds. It is at this point that the tenant becomes our client.
Washington State has many tenant protections in the Residential Landlord Tenant Act, a chapter of the Revised Code of Washington. But many of these statutes were drafted to expedite the eviction process for landlords. The Landlord Fairness Code, on the other hand, was specifically drafted to help tenants in the most dire of circumstances.
Because of the Landlord Fairness Code, a tenant now has s months’ notice of a rent increase. That gives vulnerable tenants more time to find potential funding sources, alternative housing, or possibly other income streams.
Because of the code, the elderly, and disabled tenants no longer face homelessness during the winter because evictions for nonpayment of rent cannot take place between Oct. 31 and April 1. Because of the code, children no longer face homelessness for nonpayment of rent during the school year because these evictions are delayed.
Misinformation spread by the code’s opponents imply that these protections limit their ability to collect rent. But a tenant who remains in their home due to one of the eviction bans is still obligated to pay rent for that time and a landlord is not prevented from seeking a judgment or turning the account over to collections.
Opponents claim that tenants who damage a property cannot be evicted at all because of the code. But again, this is not true. The provisions of the Landlord Fairness Code do not apply to evictions for waste, nuisance or unlawful activity. Those eviction procedures are completely unchanged.
The Landlord Fairness Code requires that landlords in the city of Tacoma follow specific procedures before they can evict: they must be a licensed business, they must provide adequate notice when increasing rent, and their late fees are limited. But running any business requires professionalism and laws limit fees in most industries. The protections these afford tenants more than offset the minor administrative inconvenience to landlords.
Our region is suffering from a lack of housing supply and affordability. The results are visible in tents, RV’s and sleeping bags across our city. The Landlord Fairness Code is not going to solve the crisis, but it prevents our most vulnerable from facing the worst outcomes and brings some much-needed balance in the relationship between landlords and tenants.
For the sake of our residents and our city, please uphold the Landlord Fairness Code.
Syed Ashraf Meer and Jesse Matsukawa are staff attorneys with Tacomaprobono.