“The current wave of regulations being considered . . . (among them) telling landlords who they must rent their property to . . .” leads Shiftwa.org (Aug.22, 2016) to conclude Seattle’s “liberal leaders’ ‘progressive’ reforms are becoming synonymous with Soviet-style regulations.”
With its Rental Inspection Program (RIP), Ordinance 644, passed 6-1 August 1, 2016, Lakewood’s leaders appear to have hitched their caboose to Seattle’s train.
On August 10, Seattle’s City Council passed just the most recent of an onslaught of tenant laws, this one requiring landlords to rent to the first qualified applicant.
Steps to ensure landlords are compliant: (1) Seattle’s law allows “prospective renters to sue a landlord when they think they’ve been skipped”; (2) Seattle “will ramp up its sting operations”; and (3) Seattle plans to “add two staffers to handle work related to the first-come, first-served policy – to the tune of more than $200,000 next year.”
Though the financial details of Lakewood’s RIP are a work in progress, initial plans called for a RIP director to be hired at $93,000; an assistant at near $50,000 and a new car at $30,000.
Lakewood’s RIP architects recommended not to pursue the low-cost alternative of a “robust educational program” that would have communicated to landlords and tenants their respective duties and responsibilities.
“Empowering tenants and community residents to ensure safe, decent and sanitary housing,” is most certainly commendable. But those words belong to the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which has set up a complaint line to address such matters as “poor maintenance, dangers to health and safety, mismanagement, and fraud.”
A complaint line.
Not an intrusive and oppressive and over-bearing and unnecessary bureaucracy.
But a phone call or an email.
Speaking of which, a promise was made August 11 by a member of our Lakewood City Council that the question as to whether Lakewood’s RIP Ordinance 644 was subject to referendum would be asked of the Municipal Research Services Center (MRSC) since MRSC declined any request unless made by an elected representative.
As of this writing there is still no answer.
Ironically, on August 13, speaking of Shiftwa.org’s reference to Soviet-style regulations, “Tatyana Stanovaya, a political scientist, commented on President Vladimir V. Putin’s firing of his longtime chief of staff, the latest in a series of moves to replace veteran officials with a younger generation of unquestioning loyalists”:
“He does not need advice, he needs people who will carry out his orders with as little fuss as possible,” said Stanovaya.
Questioning elected officials does not a bully make. And though leaders think they want loyalty, what they really need is honesty, and accountability.
No one cares but landlords and slumlords.
Move on to a different topic please.
Your baseball stories are good.
You should care. Everyone should care.
The cost of housing, especially rental housing is skyrocketing. Not JUST because the economy is booming, not just because the cost of repairs and maintenance is climbing. It is in part getting very expensive to deal with garbage, provide water and sewer services, now add $100/year ‘fee’ to provide city oversight of your investment and/or rental residence.
The city already takes change out of your pocket via franchise fees on water, sewer, garbage, cable, internet and phone services. It’s not enough. They want more, more, more.
When you complain about your rental increases and cost for services and want to pin it on the landlord’s greed, think again. When the property owner has trouble keeping up with maintenance and repairs, and again, you want to call them out for being greedy or lazy, Think again.
When nearly half of the housing units available in Lakewood ARE rentals, this policy will have a bigger impact then you know.
Demanding entry into somebodies home once every 5 years to inspect it’s condition? You think that’s ok?
Yup works for me, still don’t care. you’re probably a landlord.
OK no problem, landlords will just raise rents to cover all those new fees.
Landlords control 1/2 of the housing in Lakewood: everyone should care about RIP. The 4th Amendment guarantees freedom from search without probable cause which RIP violates: everyone should care about RIP. Governments are supposed to protect our rights, not violate them: RIP violates both landlord and tenant rights. A bully is someone with power over someone else who uses that power against them without cause. That by definition is what the City of Lakewood has become and by extension its Council.
Yep!
And when someone steps forward and presses that point in court how much will the city of Lakewood spend to defend their position?
1. Don’t forget that the director and assistant will also need a secretary.
2. If the same people are re-elected to the council, how would you expect different results?
Although everyone wants to ensure renters are treated fairly, I see this as just another example of government intruding on private business. As far as I know, any renter in this Country can choose to leave if he or she doesn’t like the situation. I hate to break it to you, but having an apartment is not a right.
If I’ve worked hard to build a business, why should I be told by bureaucrats how to operate it? Eventually, regulations for building-owners will get so burdensome the owners will simply choose to abandon the business of renting. It’s called the law of unintended consequences, and eventually there won’t be enough money in the government coffers to allow it to swoop in and take care of everyone. The entire Country seems to be heading in this direction, and it worries me.
Exactly!
Mr. Anderson,
If you have something to say in the future about the R.I.P. / RRSIP,, I encourage you to do so.
Those who either grow tired of reading letters on this subject can always choose to not read the letter.
Having just visited Norway, I recently learned that during the Nazi occupation of Norway during the WWII years of 1940 – 1945, the Norwegian resistance never gave up on publishing their underground resistance newspapers. Why, because what the Nazis were doing to Norway citizens was wrong. The Norwegians risked imprisonment and street executions by firing squad for their efforts to publish underground newspapers.
Based on freedom of speech and freedom of press, you should feel comfortable continuing to write articles on this subject because what our city council is doing through RIP / RRSIP is wrong and obviously based on defective thinking.
Our city council voted for the RIP / RRSIP based on the following 3 false premises:
1. City Council declared, “We have a slumlord problem and thus we have to do something.
2. City Council declared, “This is a step in the right direction.”
3. City Council declared, “We are tired of suffering from a bad reputation for having slum housing.”
While City Council’s concerns are valid, their solution is draconian.
Mr. Anderson, please keep writing until this madness stops.
If only landlords and slumlords read what you write, that will be reason enough. I will read what you write and I am neither a landlord nor slumlord.
Joseph Boyle
As I can reply as many times as I want.
No one cares but landlords and slumlords.
Move on to a different topic please.
Another Nazi reference? Comparing the City Council to Nazis?
Joseph Boyle (a great Ex-Deputy and always will be) is also an Ex-landlord and always will be.
The rules and regulations that are already in place, to protect the tenants, are all that is needed. According to these regulations, the tenant, after notifying the landlord about a needed repair, and not getting any results, may initiate their own repairs and deduct the cost involved, from their rent. Would it not be less expensive to all concerned, to educate the tenants, instead of infringing on the tenants and the landlords rights ??
Recently I used the City of Lakewood “311 Program” on their website for abandoned and vacant houses. In one case the house had been vacant for several years and was overgrown with blackberry bushes, some 8+ feet high. In the other case the house went through foreclosure and was vacant for over a year until a contractor made an attempt at rehabbing it. Unfortunately he stopped half way through and abandoned loads of garbage, appliances, fixtures and scrap in the front yard. Within a week of filing a complaint on these houses with 311, an inspection made, a citation was issued, a follow up within 30 days when no corrective action had been taken, and within two months the first house had been sold to an investor and is undergoing rehab and the second nearly finished with rehab by a different contractor. These success stories could be easily duplicated had it been a tenant who called 311 and made the complaint. This could be handled at no additional cost to the City or property owner. Apparently this City council doesn’t read or know their own website or the numerous programs that already exist to deal with this problem. Or maybe they just like being in charge of stuff at other’s expense.