Thank
you Matt.

The best c-note I ever spent was on renter's insurance. Paid off when a new resident in our triplex burned the place down. If we had been more attentive we could have directed more of the payout to ourselves than to the cleaning company that we didn't ask to pay top dollar to clean out the whole closet of abandoned dead electronics.

and the landlord still didn't want to let us out of the lease, despite the absence of the building, because we didn't give them 30 days' notice. F*ckers.

Renter’s insurance is generally available for under $20/month, and should absolutely always be a cost that any renter factors into their budgets as a matter of course. This is Renting 101. It’s been that way for decades.

It sucks that it’s necessary, and it really sucks that such a small cost is unaffordable for some folks. But don’t make it sound like this is some kind of exotic extra. It’s 100% required.

"If the fire department determines that the landlord was responsible for the fire, then they’d owe the tenants a certain amount of relocation assistance based on income."

This is a somewhat novel interpretation of SMC 22.206.265. I'd think twice before taking legal advice from Matt.

No one should sign those agreements. They provide nothing besides what the tenants are already entitled to.

And this is one reason I require renters insurance for all tenants.

Matt is flapping his wings like a '"wet hen" and pretending that he knows the law and casts all landlords as evil, sinister types just waiting to screw over a tenant.

If you rent and cannot afford to lose your possessions, be displaced, are pig ignorant of the law/contracts or can't afford a hotel while things get sorted out.... then you buy RENTER'S Insurance.

If you don't have RENTER'S insurance, then you assume the hassle, responsibility and legal hurdles -- whether it be suing the tenant who caused the fire, the landlord if they were responsible... or the risk of an act or God or a local arsonist.

The remainder of this sad chapter is simply Matt fanning the flames which result when one has really, really stupid tenants, who don't have insurance and making many assumption about the law, the landlord and duties attendant in this situation. '

Great theatrical, uninformed and bent reporting... a standard we've come to expect from The Stranger and their somewhat depleted cadre of increasingly discredited reporters.....er sloggers.

ps: I bet the tenants will think twice about defunding the police and now wished we had more police to protect their property and possession....ironic isn't it!