Over the past two years in Tacoma, the name of one voter-approved citizens’ initiative — the Landlord Fairness Code — has garnered both cheers of support and cries of opposition.
The code, among other things, prohibits landlords from evicting a tenant between Nov. 1 and April 1 for not paying rent. Those prohibitions increase throughout the school year if there are children in the household.
Contention over the policy was on clear display at Tuesday’s Tacoma City Council meeting as supporters and opponents packed chambers for an over three-hour period of public comments.
Comments ranged from tenants who say landlords will take advantage of changes to the code and risk their safety and housing. Landlords who commented say tenants have taken advantage of the code and are putting them in a financial bind.
It’s now possible for the Tacoma City Council to change that initiative. It became law after voters approved it in 2023, and according to the city’s charter, after two years on the books, initiatives approved by voters are open for modification.
Council member Sarah Rumbaugh has spoken multiple times about a desire to change the policy because of financial strains the code has placed on affordable housing providers.
“Tacoma cannot afford to slow down and dawdle on fixing this policy; access to housing is at stake,” Rumbaugh said at Tuesday’s meeting. “That is why council is taking action now.”
Critically, Rumbaugh said she is relying on data from these housing providers that demonstrate a clear financial harm from the code. But she said she has not seen data from tenants or for-profit landlords that would demonstrate some of the concerns shared anecdotally.
“ The reality is, despite the Landlord Fairness Code's initiative intentions, it has had dire consequences for our city, most notably on our low-income housing providers who provide housing to those with the greatest need,” Rumbaugh said.
Tacoma For All, the group that created the Landlord Fairness Code, is feeling hopeful that the council has been listening to them on rescinding earlier changes they say would have hurt tenants.
“ I speak here tonight, actually, with cautious optimism,” said Ty Moore with Tacoma For All, during public comment. “I think the outpouring of tenant and community voices is clearly having an impact on this debate.”
Tacoma For All said they support exempting nonprofit housing providers from the law’s eviction prohibitions. The ordinance the council will vote on next week exempts non-profits from having to comply, according to Rumbaugh.
But Tacoma For All and others are still worried about changes to cold weather eviction protections.
The council is still proposing a shorter time period for when someone can’t be evicted during cold weather months, Nov. 15 to March 15. Proposed changes would also require that someone prove they make 120% or less of the area’s median income to qualify for the cold weather eviction protections.
Moore said his group hopes the council will get rid of that income requirement. Council member Olgy Diaz is planning to introduce an amendment on that before the council takes a vote on the ordinance.
Finally, the changes would cap late fees at up to 1.5% of someone’s monthly rent and require only one notice of rent increases, at least 180 days in advance.
The council is planning to vote on the ordinance at its Dec. 9 meeting.
