As I wrote earlier today, this morning the Washington State Supreme Court handed down two rulings related to two of Seattle’s tenant-protection ordinances: the “First in Time” ordinance, and the “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance. Here’s a deeper dive on the cases and the rulings.
Continue readingCategory: housing
State Supreme Court finds “First in Time” tenant ordinance constitutional, clears path for “Fair Chance Housing” ordinance
In two landmark rulings this morning, the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the City of Seattle in two lawsuits related to the city’s “First in Time” and “Fair Chance Housing” tenant protect ordinances.
Continue readingCatching up with Rentberry
It’s been several months since we’ve heard anything about the ongoing spat between the City of Seattle and Rentberry, which offers an online platform to facilitate rent-bidding. But since April, the city has extended its moratorium on rent-bidding platforms and finished its study of the impacts of rent-bidding, and Rentberry has appealed its first-round loss of its legal challenge to the moratorium. Let’s catch up on where things stand.
Continue readingSawant’s Rent Control Bill
As promised, Council member Kshama Sawant unveiled her proposed rent control ordinance on Monday night. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog scanned in a printed copy that was distributed at Sawant’s hearing/rally. (update: here’s a clean version of the bill, provided by Sawant’s office) Here’s what’s in the bill.
Continue readingTenant rights bills pass out of committee
In one of the City Council’s final acts before it dives into the 2020 budget, this morning the Council passed a set of five tenant-rights bills out of committee, setting them up for final approval next Monday.
Continue readingSEPA reform bill voted out of committee
This afternoon, the City Council voted out of committee a controversial bill making several changes to the SEPA appeal process, after making a handful of mostly minor amendments.
Continue readingCouncil votes Mercer Megablock sale approval out of committee
This afternoon, the City Council voted out of committee an ordinance approving the proposed sale of the “Mercer Megablock” to Alexandria Real Estate Equities.
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RV Ranching, the Sequel
Earlier this week, the City Council had another committee hearing on the Mayor’s proposed ordinance to curb “RV Ranching,” predatory renting of RV’s and other vehicles in poor condition to homeless people. The second conversation went better than the first one last week, and the issues are becoming clearer.
Continue readingTrio of eviction-reform bills working their way through Council
Three tenant-rights bills, all sponsored by Council member Lisa Herbold, got a hearing in committee this past Tuesday; one passed out of the committee and the other two are still in the works. All three bills address issues raised in the “Losing Home” report published last year by the King County Bar Association and the Seattle Women’s Commission. That report looked at several problems in the eviction process, and made recommendations on how to make it fairer, more equitable, and less likely to drive people into homelessness.
Continue readingCity announces sale of “Mercer Megablock”
This morning, Mayor Durkan announced that the city has agreed to terms with Alexandria Real Estate Equities to purchase the Mercer Megablock property in South Lake Union, along with the adjacent city-owned property at 615 Dexter Avenue N. The deal will net the city $143 million in cash, plus a package of additional public benefits that together the city estimates will total somewhere between $275 – $305 million.
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