Seattle Inspections upcoming dates
Wednesday, August 8th
2:00 pm – Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture committee meeting discussing public comments regarding DPD draft inspections proposal
Email City Council
(see sample email below)
Sally Bagshaw
Tim Burgess
Sally Clark
Richard Conlin
Jean Godden
Bruce Harrell
Nick Licata
Mike O’Brien
Tom Rasmussen
Seattle Council discussing final proposal for mandatory rental housing inspections program
Attention all Seattle rental housing owners
Seattle Council’s Housing, Human Services, Health and Culture committee, chaired by Nick Licata, is holding a meeting this Wednesday, August 8th @ 2:00 pm at City Hall for discussion of public comment received by the City’s Department of Planning and Development (DPD) regarding their proposal for a mandatory rental housing inspections program in the City of Seattle.
RHA strongly encourages all owners of rental housing in the City to attend this meeting and/or contact the Council and encourage the City to work towards finding targeted solutions which identify problem properties in the City and focus resources on those properties.
RHA members planning on attending are encouraged to contact RHA’s Executive Director Bill HInkle (206-905-0611) for more information.
The current legislation Seattle Council will be reviewing would:
Ӣ Require all rental housing units to be registered with the City on a tiered basis and beginning by July 1, 2014. Registration would be valid for five years.
Ӣ Allow inspections of up to 10% of all rental units in any given year. Require that any property subject to inspection be inspected at least once every ten years.
Ӣ Allow inspections of no fewer than two units at properties with 20 or fewer units.
Ӣ Allow inspections of no more than 15% of units, up to a maximum of 50 units, at properties with more than 20 units.
”¢ Require that inspectors verify a rental unit meets minimum requirement standards of the City’s housing code related to floor area, sanitation, structural, sheltering, maintenance, heating, ventilation, electrical, emergency escape, garbage removal, extermination, keys and locks, garbage cans, and smoke detectors.
RHA has been a more than willing partner with the City in seeking to find a solution which would target problem properties. Our alternative proposal included:
Ӣ Enhanced landlord-tenant education and outreach.
Ӣ A hierarchy of DPD enforcement mechanisms targeting known and knowable problem properties.
Ӣ A registration and property condition declaration for all rental properties.
”¢ Random inspections of a small percentage of registered rental properties to serve as an “audit” component.
Sample Email to City Councilmembers
Dear Councilmember,
I am a rental housing owner in the City of Seattle and am opposed to the current draft legislation which would require mandatory inspections of all rental housing in the City of Seattle. This current proposal does not address the fundamental issue of cleaning up problem properties in the City and instead relies upon bad landlords to voluntarily sign their properties up for registration and inspections. This is not practical.
I am writing you to ask that you support a targeted approach which focuses the City’s valuable resources on those properties which are known or can be known to be problem properties. The overwhelming majority of rental housing properties in the City are in good condition and should not be forced to bear the burden for bad landlords.
As a rental housing owner I provide safe, affordable housing to a population which represents over 50% of the City’s residents. The importance of rental housing in the community cannot be overstated.
Please consider this when weighing any proposal which will have a direct impact on the affordability of housing and the rights of tenants to private enjoyment of their homes.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
