The City of Seattle has passed a Rental Registration & Inspection Ordinance, and it will be important for you to know what are your rights! There is a lot of misinformation out there on this important piece of local legislation, and we wanted to dispel a lot of the myth's about the new law.
As of June 7th Washington State tenants are provided greater transparency now that landlords are required to disclose in writing both the reason why a tenant is denied housing and what criteria they will use in their rental decision. These new laws are a hard fought victory for the TU, its members, tenant leaders, and allies like the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance, and others.
Moved by powerful testimony from tenants and housing advocates, the Redmond City Council voted to outlaw discrimination against renters who use Section 8 vouchers or other government income to pay their rent.
"The fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in the Seattle-Bellevue area now requires 52 hours of work a week at the typical renter wage, up from 45 in 2010."
The Washington Supreme Court today struck down a Seattle Housing Authority rule that prohibited public housing tenants from placing any type of sign on their apartment doors.