Governor Inslee’s eviction moratorium is having the unintended consequence of keeping rentals off the market. That’s according to Christina Nelson, property manager for Townsend Bay Property Management, Inc., which manages over 175 rental properties–“doors”–in Jefferson County. It is the county’s largest property manager.
“Houses are sitting vacant,” says Nelson, “for fear of squatters,” occupants who do not pay rent. “Owners are also letting ADU’s go unrented because of the moratorium.” Owners fear that if they accept a tenant who then exploits the moratorium and refuses to pay rent, “you’re stuck. There’s no protection for landlords.”
For some landlords, their rental properties “are what they depend on for their own needs, to pay their own mortgage or maintain their own home.” Some landlords live off their rental income. Under the moratorium, they face losing their own homes or falling behind on mortgage payments and taxes.
Will there be a nightmare of evictions when the moratorium ends? Some Jefferson County “advocates for the unsheltered” in comments to the Jefferson County Board of County Commissioners have predicted 1,500 evictions and demanded an extension of the moratorium.
Nelson says that of the properties they manage, only one or two tenants have not been paying and possibly face eviction. One of them, after refusing to pay rent during the moratorium, showed up in the office and paid $1,200 of past due rent and promised to bring a similar amount next week as he pays off a $4,600 balance.
“I expect to see more properties becoming available once the moratorium ends,” says Nelson. Right now Townsend Bay has zero vacancies, “and as soon as one opens up, we rent it.” With landlords no longer fearing the moratorium and its risks, properties that have been kept off the market will return and there may be additional “doors” made available to tenants.
Why have so few of Townsend Bay’s tenants not fallen behind on rent, despite the Governor’s shutdowns and the impact of COVID fears on the economy? “Nobody has had a reason to not make their rent,” says Nelson. “We have wonderful resources in Jefferson County to help those in need. And we have job openings everywhere. I do not accept unemployment as a source of income [in the application process]. There’s no reason to be on unemployment when there are jobs everywhere.”
One more thing is necessary to bring more rental properties on the market, according Nelson: “As long as we don’t keep getting laws that favor tenants so much over landlords.” For instance, measures passed by Seattle City Council have resulted in a huge loss of rental properties, especially single homes. Regulatory risk and the burdens imposed on owners have made selling into a rising market an alternative too attractive to pass up. Windermere Property Management/Lori Grill Associates in Seattle saw a 48% increase in rental clients selling their properties from 2019 to 2020. A poll of clients taken in January 2020 showed that 35% of property owners were looking to sell because of new regulations, and the fear that more will follow.
Seattle regulations passed by City Council include a ban on evictions during the school year if the household includes a child or parent–or if anyone in the dwelling works on school property, including a contractor. Seattle City Council has also required mandatory lease renewal.
The Washington Legislature recently enacted its own set of landlord-tenant laws that make the business of renting, particularly for mom-and-pop landlords who rent out one or two properties, more burdensome, risky and costly. Tenants who did not pay rent during the moratorium must be offered a repayment plan that requires no more than 1/3 of past due monthly rent to be paid during each month going forward. The result is that it could takes years to make up all the past due rent. Low income tenants get a lawyer at taxpayer expense–landlords either face the lawyer themselves or pay thousands to get their own legal representation to slug it out in court. Landlords are prohibited from evicting tenants except for one of 17 specified reasons and face legal liability if their reasoning is challenged. Already, landlords are prohibited from using a felony conviction–other than a sex offense–as a reason for denying a rental, and must research the facts of the offense and be able to provide a reason why the crime should disqualify the renter. They again face legal liability, and a taxpayer-funded lawyer, for turning down a convicted felon and renting instead to someone with a lifetime of lawfulness.
As these new regulations have been considered and passed by the Legislature, Nelson has seen the number of rental properties under management decline from over 200, to its current level, a loss of about 12.5%.
Jim Scarantino was the editor and founder of Port Townsend Free Press. He is happy in his new role as just a contributor writing on topics of concern to him. He spent the first 25 years of his professional life as a trial attorney, then launched an online investigative news website that broke several national stories. He is also the author of three crime novels. He resides in Jefferson County. See our “About” page for more information.
I’m listening to the County Commissioner meeting on the topic of relocating the Fairground squatters, live streaming right now. Plenty of argle-bargle from advocates of the Homeless-Industrial Complex that feeds on tax dollars, and plenty of mutual back-patting about what good people they all are, but little to no mention of the rights of the Fairground managers to operate the facility as a FAIRGROUND for “stakeholders” (they never seem to say “taxpayers”) to enjoy as its intended purpose. Our county sheriff seems to be among the more normal attendees, but I’m not holding my breath about anything improving soon for the long-suffering residents of the city and county.
I think the situation will be taken care of one way or another. It’s only a matter of time before it happens and people get enough of it and take action. We’re in a bad time where people are being told what they can and can’t do, where they can can’t go and being lead down the path to drink the Kool[Aid. This is America ,with free thinking people who sonner or later are going to take action to keep their freedom to protect their property and way of life. Hopefully, it won’t go that far, but it will take the people in charge (city and county officials) start working to solve the problem realistically. In the meantime, the clock is ticking.
Send them back to Freeattle or Ballard or where they came from. This has been happening for years. Whoever said it was a good idea to bring these people in, in the dark of night to squat and leave their trash all over.
The Biden administration is doing the same thing with illegal aliens, flying or bussing them out in the middle of the night to unsuspecting communities around the country when their communities have no way of dealing with more housing and services.
Ou the Fed should sent them out t9 guarded camps in the midle of nowhere like they did to the Japanese in WWII. I have no problem about them coming into the US Legally but these illeagasl should be impounded. I also agree with Larry, these “homeless”” should be sent back to the cities that welcome them.
Agreed, Larry, these “homeless” are not locals down on their luck, they are alcoholics, heroin addicts and street criminals who left cities to look for gullible liberals and leftists in small towns who would celebrate their “misfortune” and provide for their every need, all while tolerating their criminal behavior.