The City of Lakewood’s Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP), commonly known as the RIP, generates several intense points of view. It is my plan to write an article relating each point of view as follows:
1. RIP – Renter’s Viewpoint.
2. RIP – Landlord’s Viewpoint.
3. RIP – City of Lakewood’s Viewpoint.
Today, we have the opportunity to view the RIP from the renter’s point of view. To be clear, one renter’s point of view.
Photo: Elizabeth moved into her rental home in 2012. The RHSP was the primary cause forcing her to vacate in 2017.On Friday, October 27, 2017, I met Ms. Elizabeth James at Starbucks. After reading one of my articles, she volunteered to share her story regarding how Lakewood’s Rental Housing Safety Plan (RHSP) impacted on her family.
I introduced you to Elizabeth in my The Suburban Times article last week titled Westside Story – Joe Boyle Fails City Council.
The following is what I was told by Elizabeth.
After graduating from high school, Elizabeth went on to earn two community college associate degrees. One degree is in the social sciences and the second is in pre-law.
Elizabeth ended up working a good paying job as a 440-Union construction worker. She earned $28 — $34 an hour working on the Seattle tunnel project.
Her significant other, Paul, earned between $14 and $15 an hour.
In 2012, Elizabeth and Paul moved into a Lakewood two bedroom house near the Star-Lite Drive-In Swap & Shop.
The beginning rent was $700 per month. The old house, built in 1943, had its problems, but for Elizabeth and Paul along with their four children and two dogs, it was home.
When they moved in, Elizabeth’s landlord told them that as long as they paid the rent on time and did not create any problems, the rent would never change. True to the landlord’s word, the rent never changed even five long years later.
Elizabeth’s and Paul’s combined income would have allowed them to rent a better and more expensive house, but they wanted to underspend to guard against any unknown future financial emergencies.
Underspending for rent proved to be a right decision because eventually, the young family would suffer many tragedies.
Tragedy 1: Elizabeth’s mother contracted a severe illness, but she lacked the financial resources required to pay for her medical care.
Tragedy 2: Elizabeth quit her job to become her mother’s full-time caregiver. Because she and Paul had underspent on their rent, the $700 monthly rental was a godsend allowing them to keep a roof over their family’s head while she took care of her mother.
Tragedy 3: Elizabeth’s mother died of liver cancer.
Tragedy 4: Elizabeth’s health took a turn for the worse which prevented her from returning to her well-paying job.
Tragedy 5: Elizabeth’s four-year-old son set himself on fire resulting in second and third-degree burns on his arm and chest. The incident was caused by combining a cigarette lighter left within reach and a four-year-old’s curiosity.
Tragedy 6: On top of all the above adverse circumstances, Lakewood City Council approved the RHSP, which effectively stripped Elizabeth of her ability to manage her own life and housing arrangements because of what she considered intrusive government interference.
Obviously, Lakewood City Council voted for the RHSP with the intention of helping low-income Lakewood citizens like Elizabeth.
From Elizabeth’s viewpoint, six members of Lakewood City Council did not help but instead hurt her family when the RHSP caused her to become homeless.
Elizabeth stated that her landlord told her Lakewood’s RHSP caused them to decide to sell the property. Based on that, they served her a 30 day vacate notice.
During a separate interview, her landlord confirmed that Elizabeth’s account regarding the impact of the RHSP was accurate.
The landlord went on to say that if it were not for Lakewood City Council’s enactment of the RHSP, they would have continued renting the house to Elizabeth for $700 a month.
Tragedy 7: Elizabeth and Paul, lacking the necessary funding, moved out of the home they occupied for five years on Sunday, October 28, 2017, without a new rental in place.
Tragedy 8: Elizabeth needs cash for rental application fees, rental deposits, first months rent and in some cases last months rent. Then there are pet fees and cleaning fees which generate the need for more cash. We have to add the cost of packing, renting a truck and moving. Add to that new utility deposits, and it becomes apparent moving to a new rental can become an expensive proposition. Add it all up, and we are talking about cash Elizabeth does not have.
Tragedy 9: Lakewood’s RHSP has proven to be a family home wrecker for Elizabeth. She and the four children temporarily moved in with friends in King County. There was no room for Paul, so as of my interview, the best he could hope for was living on the streets.
Tragedy 10: Elizabeth has two pit bull dogs. As she looks for a new rental home, the pit bulls may generate extra expense or preclude her from renting properties where pit bulls are not allowed. The pit bulls were not a problem until Lakewood City Council’s misguided effort to help low-income renters triggered unintended consequences.
Tragedy 11: Elizabeth’s family is losing their coveted connection to the City of Lakewood. Examples include their association with Clover Park Schools, Clover Park Technical College, and Five Guys Burgers. Lakewood City Council’s RHSP has destroyed this relationship which will have a lifelong impact on her children.
Tragedy 12: Based on Elizabeth’s research, it is not likely she will find a similar two-bedroom rental house for $700. Her next rental will probably cost $1200 — $1400 per month.
Lakewood City Council’s RHSP reminds me of the Boy Scouts of America leader who attempted to teach his scouts to help others. At their next monthly scout meeting, the scouts reported that six of them assisted one elderly disabled woman across the street. When the scout leader asked why it took six scouts to accomplish the good deed, the scouts reported, “She did not want to cross the street.”
In Elizabeth’s case, she did not want Lakewood City Council’s help in the form of the RHSP. The RHSP has only helped to destroy an already struggling family.
In November of 1885, the City of Tacoma drove the Chinese out of the city with a forced march to the train station. All Chinese were made to leave their homes and businesses and were forced to board a train to Portland, Oregon. Running the Chinese out of Tacoma was called the Tacoma Method.
For Elizabeth and her family, the result is the same as the Chinese, except Lakewood did not provide a free train ride to King County. Perhaps our city’s RHSP should be renamed the Lakewood Method.
Tragedies 13-17
Likely to follow on the heels of the RIP, given Lakewood has referenced Seattle’s model in developing its own, is what is happening in that city to the north.
According to David Kroman in the November 2, Crosscut, “Councilmember Kshama Sawant will soon introduce legislation that would mandate landlords pay relocation assistance to tenants who can no longer afford their rent.
“Under the proposed legislation, if a landlord raises rent by 10 percent or more within a one year period and the tenant then moves out, the landlord must pay three months’ worth of rent to help the tenant, a number that’s loosely based on what it costs to pay a security deposit and first and last month’s rent.”
To avoid similar penalties in Portland, landlords are raising rents 9.9 percent. Kind of like building a boat 15-feet six-inches to avoid the annual license required for boats 16-feet and above.
Will it be true that where Seattle goes, Lakewood will be sure to follow?
Since 2015, Seattle “has passed laws that forbid rent increases if a building is not up to code; require landlords to accept the first qualified tenant; cap how much landlords may charge tenants in upfront costs; and restrict landlords from screening tenants based on criminal backgrounds.”
And where did that all begin? Seattle’s Rental Registration and Inspection Ordinance.
http://crosscut.com/2017/11/kshama-sawant-stop-economic-evictions-landlords-pay-new-legislation/
Mr. Anderson,
Because our current Lakewood City Council subscribes to the concept, “Everyone else, including Seattle, is doing it” instead of thinking things through on their own, Lakewood rental property owners should prepare to sell their property as soon as they learn Lakewood is getting ready to implement more Socialism beyond the RIP.
Joseph Boyle
Wait! So it’s the councils plan to push out low to low-middle income families out of Lakewood? Or is it to take away the roof over the families so they can live out of stolen shopping carts at the Lakewood Towne Center?
Why didn’t they put together a reasonable plan to help the families that are living in slums and want help to either get the properties improved or help them find better but still affordable alternative housing?
It seems like the city counsel needs a few new folks that can think logically and that understand a bit about supply and demand. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen a few days ago so it will be next time around after everyone is screaming about RIP as many people that I talked to didn’t know anything about the program. Once they start feeling the affects I suspect the council will be hearing a lot more about it.
Her loss of home was due to a slumlord kicking her out, not the city.
Sad but a waste of time article.
That is a perfect socialist response to a big government over regulation.
Oh David. Really?
There are probably many dilapidated and borderline dangerous homes in Lakewood that are owner-occupied. Are they next on the list for your city leaders? Does it matter if people get killed when their own home burns down, or if they are tenants? Will the owners be evicted from their own property after an intrusive inspection? As a famous general in Iraq said “tell me how this all ends.”
Thank you Mr. Boyle, Mr. Anderson and commenters, aside from Mr. Wilson, who in my mind does not appear to have a firm grasp on this subject.
As to Seattle laws… there will be hell to pay when people fall out of the private investment in residential real estate… but you won’t hear about it, just like you don’t hear ANYTHING about the excessive amount of property taxes required on a property now via the vote of the people. I respect the vote, I do, I respect the process and the gate keepers, but sooooo many people vote without registering the blow back, it’s just incredible. Tacoma is a fine example. Support Parks???? Sure. You betcha. I have a duplex in N. Tacoma. The portion of the property taxes going to Tacoma Parks and Rec is $500/year all by itself. Another $1,990 to schools. Another $1,00++ to the city. IT DOESN’T END THERE. Those are just the heavy hitters.
The city of Tacoma has a rental housing inspection program. It’s a drive by. They call it a business license. I have complained about it in the past, as just like everything else it goes up every year or so. Now standing at just over $100 per year and they have ‘inspected’ twice in the last 10 years, or so they say. They have never once asked to go inside with a clipboard. I send them a check and they send me a ‘business license’. Done!
As to the Seattle law regarding how I go about screening tenants who might occupy my investment property… THEY COULD JUST BITE ME. Seriously. Mr. Joe convict would happily receive his application fee back with a note proclaiming that there was another qualified applicant before him… and the city employees could circle the wagons on me and never get to the bottom of why he wasn’t accepted.
Again, what they will succeed in doing is discourage private investors such as myself who provide a substantial amount of residential rental properties and create a shortage which will aggravate the ‘affordable housing’ folks who will insist on housing provided with your tax dollars and rent control which will further aggravate the market.
Free markets work. There is a shortage and what may seem to be an exaggerated rental increase… the truth is that we are coming out of a substantial market slump which stinted development and investment which further created a shortage. There was a problem. All throughout 2009-2016 there were long vacancies and a low expectation of rent, in hopes of getting someone/anyone in to keep the mortgage paid all while the property taxes climbed at an extraordinary rate.
Now investors are investing. Developers are developing. Homes and apartments are going up everywhere. The market will correct. We all just have to wait for it. In the meantime I’m playing catch up on the short years that I can only hope are in my rear view mirror.
Again waste of time.
Mr. Wilson, thank you so much for telling us what to think……..NOT!!!