"cancel it all"? great idea. no one ever has to pay their bills. it'll be paradise. Cool. I'd love to support all of Seattle's tenant's forever just because. I mean, they're nice people, and why should anyone have to work for a living? Somehow I assume you are NOT asking to cancel my mortgage, or any of my living expenses.

JFC. How about we shake ourselves out of this pandemic business and fucking go back to work? We've got a country to rebuild, if you didn't notice.

And another thing. The day that officially marks the beginning of our decent into the pitch-black hell that is a Seattle winter could not objectively suck more. E,W & F were clearly not from here.

If you keep cancelling the rent, soon there will be no rental properties for anyone. Simple economics. People who will soon be thrown out will never be able to rent again, because who would rent to people who don't pay?

It's not a matter of who "deserves" to be helped or have their rent postponed. No money for rent means no money for mortgages which means no rental properties. If I were a landlord and knew someone might not pay, I would just let the property stay empty.

There's nothing complex about Boris's family life. He is routinely spotted running naked through the streets of London before dawn, it's just not widely reported.

The main pleasure I get out of reading the eviction moratorium has been extended is the huge sigh of relief that I am no longer a landlord. Thanks for that! Always nice to have confirmation that I made the right choice in selling that property and investing the money elsewhere.

@4 - I'm well aware that it's mild here. Chicago is a frozen wasteland by comparison. But it's still goddamn dark in the winter. And just because Europe has it worse doesn't mean it's not too dark here. Couple that with the constant cloud cover and it's a wonder our suicide rate is not through the ceiling.

@6 States were given BILLIONS to distribute in rental assistance and BILLIONS to assist vulnerable homeowners via the stimulus packages. WA state got at least half a billion (or $500 million) in rental assistance alone. Where did that money go? Has it been distributed?

There are plenty of news stories explicitly stating that something close to 90% of that money has not been given to the renters or homeowners who need it.

Why are states hoarding this money?

Landlords could have been paid already.
Homeowners could have been paid already.
Renters could be secure in knowing they will not be evicted already.

Yet again this country is hell bent on blaming the wrong people.

State governments are hoarding money that is not theirs to hoard. But instead of blaming the state officials who have not distributed the money (for whatever reason and I'm sure it varies from state to state), let's blame the renters and the people working to prevent tens of millions of people being forced into homelessness, again, during a raging pandemic.

@14 That's not the fault of the landlords. They will make the simple economic decisions that will freeze out non-paying renters forever. Blame the governments at all levels.

Hahaha, I am reading this from LA! Moved from seattle years ago but still love to read slog. Nothing else like it. Since u called me out, I will try to overcome my fear of going to the theater and make Nowhere my first big screen experiance since COVID. U rock Jasmyne.

Sadly, looks like the screening is not in Hollywood but at the confusingly-named Hollywood Theater in Portland. 😂 Guess I can remain a hermit. I’ll keep scouring slog for LA culture recommendations, though!

It will cost much more, much more to deal with a sudden explosion of homelessness smack dab in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. So much so that the current government might not remain viable. When heartless capitalism is allowed to truly reign without limitation, the masses won't actually stand for it. Go back and study the labor movement in Western Washington during the 1930s.

@18, the moratorium has expired in most states and we haven't seen any state governments fall.

@8 - isn't he the hairy-handed gent who's ran amok in Kent? I thought he'd been overheard in Mayfair lately as well.

@18 - I've said this before, but it would make no economic sense for landlords to boot people who have been good tenants. The economy is coming back, and people are getting their jobs back. If you have someone who's behind on their rent but you have reason to think they'll start to make good on their obligations, it would make sense to work with them. If you toss them out you will never see any of the back rent.

Now, the tenant who was a problem BEFORE the pandemic is another story. If you had someone who didn't pay their bills even in normal times, it would make sense to get rid of them as soon as you can.

@17 Oops! Fixed!

@21: Live for free? No, it's more like the problems of delaying inevitable financial processing and that mortgages are not being paid.

@17, If LA is all that, isn't there a LA equivalent of the Stranger? the Village Voice? Portland Mercury?

Remember, if you're not controlling the means of production, you can at least not try to catch up on your back rent and then act all surprised when you get tossed out during a January freak snowstorm in Seattle.

Or, maybe, start catching up.

@28- are you suggesting that people should actually try to pay their bills? In the Stranger?

Almost 30 comments, and nothing on Elvira's cutsie, gay, demisexual, real-life-yet-started-like-a-romance-novel-fantasy relationship?

Cripes, you guys are a dour bunch.