Will the Spokane ordinance providing grace period for renters with a declared emergency spread to Seattle landlords?
KIRO host John Curley had a warning for Seattle listeners after the Spokane City Council passed a new tenant protection ordinance.
“Look out,” Curley said on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “This will spread to Seattle.”
The Spokane City Council voted 5-2 on Sept. 9 to pass an emergency ordinance shielding renters from eviction during declared emergencies if they experience a loss of more than 10% of their monthly income, according to The Spokesman-Review. Qualifying tenants get a 12-month grace period to repay missed rent, with no late fees or penalties. The ordinance was a direct response to the Spokane Complex fires, which damaged or destroyed more than 850 structures.
The Rental Housing Association of Washington says landlords still have taxes and bills to pay, even when they can’t collect rent. The Rental Housing Association of Washington, which represents property owners and housing providers across the state, says the ordinance could shift some of the financial burden of disaster recovery onto landlords.
Kevin Schilling with the organization said landlords still have expenses to pay even when they aren’t receiving rent. “When you just say you can’t collect rent, you know what doesn’t go away? Taxes, insurance payments, utility payments, maintenance requirements,” Schilling said.
Schilling said the organization supports providing direct assistance to people impacted by the fires but believes that assistance should not come at the expense of private property owners.
Curley believes the ordinance ignores the math on the landlord’s side.
Curley aired commentary from Spokane real estate agent Sarah Ruth Hoverson, who raised concerns about the ordinance’s practical application: whether the 10% threshold applies to an individual or an entire household, how self-employment income is calculated, and whether landlords can absorb the financial hit.
“For every dollar they get in rent, by the time they pay everything else, they might make maybe 10%, depending on what their mortgage is,” Curley said. “The tenant gets a break and doesn’t have to pay you for a whole year, but oh, by the way, landlord, you still have to pay everything else. You don’t get a break.”
He pushed the logic further. If a tenant’s nonpayment reduces the landlord’s income, the landlord could theoretically qualify for the same emergency relief.
“Where’s the emergency for the landlord?” Curley said. “Maybe the landlord could show, ‘Oh, I had an emergency as well, because now my income has dropped.’”
Curley said the ordinance reflects a broader pattern in local government.
“The natural tendency of most of these people that are on city council is landlord bad, tenant good, employer bad, employee good,” Curley said. “Let’s make sure that we can tip the balance into the direction of the tenant, because landlord bad. We don’t really care about you.”
He argued that most landlords affected by these policies aren’t large corporations.
“Most of these landlords are small private ownership. They have like three or four units trying to pay the bills on the thing,” Curley said. “No break for them, just a break for the tenant during an emergency.”
