Landlords came out in force at the King County Council meeting on Tuesday to speak against a proposed tenant rights bill. Unfortunately, their cause was hurt by many of their own talking points being blatantly false. Several County Councilmembers chastised the Rental Housing Association of Washington (RHA) for spreading misinformation about the bill proposed by Councilmembers Girmay Zahilay and Jeanne Kohl-Welles.
“Landlord associations like @RHAofWA have been spreading so much misinformation about our just cause eviction ordinance that public comment today is full of people arguing against things that don’t exist. This is beyond shameful,” Councilmember Zahilay tweeted, amplifying comments he made in the meeting (video here).
County Councilmember Joe McDermott noted he is a landlord, an RHA member, and read from the RHA email distributed to members last Friday, noting several falsehoods, such as the mistaken idea that background checks would be banned. He expressed disappointment that the RHA was cheapening the dialogue and resorting to underhanded tactics. Some proponents also noted that most of the landlords seem to own property in Seattle and other incorporated cities rather than conducting their business in unincorporated King County where the County Council legislation would actually apply.
County Councilmember Kathy Lambert (a Republican representing the 3rd District) complained that the bill was moving too fast and fretted over a legal brief and the prospect of appeals. Zahilay countered that it had been proposed since March and that tenants are running out of time with the statewide eviction moratorium set to expire June 30th. March is also when the Stay Housed Stay Healthy Coalition (of which The Urbanist is a member) launched a campaign to push the legislation. Yet here we sit in mid-June.
