Comments

1

"a potential tsunami of evictions"

If this was a valid concern, we would have seen huge increase in evictions outside of Seattle since 10/31/2021.

2

@1 - exactly. I've said before that evicting people who were good tenants before the pandemic makes no business sense. There was a WaPo article last week noting that the expected surge of evictions there was not happening, either.

Now, that vaccines are available to all and there are jobs going begging, it is probably time to start asking that people pay their rent. I am not sure that a continued moratorium makes any sense. Helping people dig out of the hole of back rent is going to be challenging but it needs to happen.

3

The tsunami was always bullshit . It was used to pass permanent regulations. The longer government puts off letting people run their businesses the worse our housing problems become.

4

The lack of a tsunami is based on a statement from a landlord association.

Incredibly good article. It chews through and digests a lot of detail, while giving useful information.

5

@4 Personally, I am basing the lack of a "tsunami" on the complete absence of any media reports indicating widespread evictions occurred after eviction moratoriums were lifted in other jurisdictions.

I have to assume if widespread evictions were indeed taking place, someone would be talking about it. Perhaps even the Stranger would notice.

8

Ah, right. The Seattle moratorium hasn't even ended yet, but all the RWNJ's are shocked, SHOCKED I TELL YOU! that landlords didn't enact rent increased before the moratorium expired.

My landlord, who literally reaps a 70% profit off our rents based on the current valuation and tax basis of his property (you can look up your own at: https://kingcounty.gov/depts/assessor/Parcel-Sales-Search.aspx) just raised our rent by $100 a month starting in June, claiming "cost of living increases". So, maybe he gets a little less return from property tax increases, but otherwise he hasn't spent a penny on upgrades since buying us a new hot water heater about four years ago.

9

Let's be honest though. In Hannah's example does anyone believe a tenant that is $40K behind in rent is ever going to be able to make that up? I'd support regulations that Covid related evictions can't be held against renters when applying for an apt in the future but I honestly don't see how extending this another few months to say May is going to make that much of a difference debt wise to anyone who is that far behind.

10

@5: "Perhaps even the Stranger would notice."

Not if it's outside Seattle. Maps of the floating bridges are annotated with "Here be dragons" to the East.

11

@8: In June? You should have no trouble accommodating. Cut out Netflix and a few subscriptions and maybe your premium wine and vodka indulgences and you'll be fine. Crybaby lib.

13

8- Please share your calculations arriving at a 70% profit. I am wildly skeptical. A 5% return is a more typical number for a residential real estate investment.

Also, regarding the $40,000 unpaid rent: Another way of looking at it is the renter is now $40K richer because they received $40K goods or services without paying for them, and the provider of the goods and services is $40K in the hole, with no likelihood of recouping that money.

15

@14 - not to mention the fact that @8's landlord very likely lost money of broke even at best the first few years he owned the building. That is investment that has to be considered.

As for renting to poor people, you are 100% right. The city has placed 110% of the risk of the low-income housing business on landlords. There is absolutely no way I'd offer housing at the low end of the market now. Good for the people who do, but I don't know how they're going to make it.

16

Harrell can and should give himself some breathing room on this issue -- by immediately extending the moratorium through March. It shouldn't ever be legal to evict a tenant during winter, unless said tenant either (a) poses a clear, immediate danger to the health or safety of others in the building or (b) is known to have ready access to another domicile. Cold-weather evictions of rule-abiding tenants with nowhere else to go are just Dickensian-level cruel, no matter how far behind on rent a tenant may be. This is a minimal standard that any society that calls itself civilized needs to uphold, regardless of economic considerations. Anyone who wishes to profit from rental housing should be prepared to accept this one principle without argument.

17

Good to see Perkins Lane is back in the news.
Homeowners sue to build on a cliff, then sue when their house slides downhill.
As humans, we will never learn.

18

@8 70% yield on rental property is a pipe dream. If a piece of property is completely paid off, i.e. no mortgage, yields of 10% are considered good. Property tax, insurance, repairs/maintenance, income tax (yes, you have to pay income tax on profit from rental activity), tenant screening costs... it all adds up. The alternative is to sell the property at market rate, pay commissions, and then invest the remainder in stocks or bonds or cash. Cash yields below 1%, S&P500 index maybe 8%, bonds are yielding maybe 3%.

19

Harrell isn't going to do shit to protect renters from eviction.

20

There are jobs everywhere. Take some responsibility. If you can’t pay your rent it’s because you won’t get off your lazy ass. At this point that is the only excuse.

23

Buried the lead here. That lead is that Seattle's menu of programs from cash assistance to free lawyers, are not up to speed and mostly overwhelmed, court dockets are packed and nearly half of tenants that get docket times don't make their appointments.
Second line, "No wonder dockets are full if people can't get time off to go to court."
The breadth and depth of differences in landlords (speculating investor groups to retirees trying to keep their homes by renting rooms), and tenants (Covid plagued industries such as Food and Hospitality or natural growth from studio living). From responsible to reprehensible, in both camps... there is no segment that rises to 15% of the population.
It is a mixed bag, and mixed programs will yield mixed results, and people will just keep on trying to make a go on living off of starvation wages in high rent areas.
Glad I sold my 2 Houses, 3 units, before I would have gotten rolled if any of my tenants lost their income, couldn't pay, I couldn't evict, and would have gone hungry if I needed to foot those 2 extra mortgages.
For those too excited about errant arithmetic, grow yer asses up.

25

It's the "Seattle libs" that keep all the old cranks in their government payments.

26

Its time for those renters who may be subject to eviction to take matters into their own hands. A first good step would be to go out there and get a job. Take the money from your own pay check and pay YOUR rent.

One might ask what these poor unfortunates have been doing since March of 2020. At some point, you have to ask ...how much time does a renter need to 'prepare to pay rent".... in light of the huge amount of jobs available?

27

I know this is controversial, but the government is not responsible for the outcome of your decisions nor is it your daddy.


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