Reject proposed $10 late fee for Seattle renters

The Seattle Metropolis Council has proposed capping late charges for renters at $10 a month. The strategy may damage landlords with one or two rental items and do little, if something, to assist renters. The plan primarily would dangle a life vest in entrance of renters who’re financially treading water. The catch is, this $10-life vest is filled with holes.

A greater answer could be to create a cap that’s truthful to all.  A cap based mostly on a small share of a tenant’s lease, between 1% to three%, would function an incentive for renters to pay on time, but not gouge those that are struggling to pay on time. 

Kenmore and Redmond capped rental late charges at 1.5% final 12 months.

Some lawmakers tried to create a statewide cap of $75 within the Legislature this 12 months but it surely failed.

In Seattle, the proposed late-fee cap, floated by Councilmember Kshama Sawant, advantages the wealthier renter. Council members like to toss in regards to the phrase “fairness,” however there isn’t any fairness in a state of affairs the place a renter of a swanky $3,000 condo pays the identical late price as somebody struggling to pay $900 for a studio condo.

Town has guidelines governing rental insurance policies designed to guard renters, landlords and the general public’s well being. The short-term guidelines based mostly on the COVID-19 emergency helped present safety throughout an financial downturn.

This newest proposal, nevertheless, is extra political assertion than sound coverage. A $10 price is neither an incentive nor penalty. It’s not rooted within the actuality of the rental housing market, neither is it based mostly on any evaluation as to why individuals fall behind in lease. It must be rejected by the Seattle Metropolis Council in favor of a price construction based mostly on a renter’s skill to pay.