evictions

Tenants and landlords will soon have a chance to voice their opinions on how Tacoma’s new tenant protections have impacted them. It’s been nearly two years since voters here approved the Landlord Fairness Code. The regulations, ranging from a $10 cap on late fees to a ban on economic evictions during certain times of the year, were an attempt to address increased rents and evictions by Tacoma For All, an advocacy organization for tenants and working class Tacomans.

The tide of evictions many predicted, has come.As the pandemic waned and rental assistance dollars from federal programs like the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act dried up, some feared there would be an increase of evictions.

Help for Washington renters and homeowners is on the way as the state’s eviction moratorium is set to expire June 30.

Washington’s eviction moratorium will be extended through June and two million more Washingtonians will be eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine beginning March 31.

After Gov. Jay Inslee extended the moratorium multiple times, most lawmakers, lobbyists and advocates expect March 31 will mark its true end — at least at the state level. Then the question of what will happen to renters without the moratorium’s blunt relief will go from hypothetical to very much real.

The new eviction ban is being enacted through the Centers for Disease Control. The goal is to stem the spread of the COVID outbreak, which the agency says in it's order, "presents a historic threat to public health."

Matthew Desmond estimates that 2.3 million evictions were filed in the U.S. in 2016 — a rate of four every minute. "Eviction isn't just a condition of poverty; it's a cause of poverty," he says.