Sawant Calls On Harrell To Extend COVID Eviction Moratorium

SEATTLE — Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is calling on Mayor Bruce Harrell to extend the city's COVID-19 eviction moratorium before it expires mid-month.

If no action on the moratorium is taken, it is set to end on Jan. 15. In an open letter to Harrell, Sawant said allowing that to happen would result in a wave of evictions, leaving potentially thousands of Seattleites homeless.

"Even before the COVID emergency, conditions for renters in Seattle had already become intolerable," Sawant writes. "Skyrocketing rents driven by the predatory real estate speculation market forced many working-class renters out of their homes and sometimes out of the city, or even into homelessness. The economic devastation triggered by the COVID emergency massively exacerbated that crisis."

In her letter, Sawant pointed to a recent study, the Losing Home report from the Seattle Women's Commission and King County Bar Association, which found that almost 90 percent of Seattle residents who are late on their rent will become homeless if the moratorium expires now. The state estimates that some 175,000 Washingtonians fell behind on their rent during the pandemic— accruing a total debt of between 1.1 and 1.2 billion in past-due rent by summer 2021. According to an August report from The Seattle Times, at least at least 60,000 of those renters live in the Seattle area.

Several studies, including the Losing Home report and the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey, have found that resuming evictions without adequate protection will disproportionately impact women and communities of color— another reason, Sawant argues, to keep the moratorium in place.

Seattle's eviction moratorium was first issued on March 14, 2020, and has been extended a half dozen times in the nearly two years since. Under the moratorium, landlords cannot evict tenants unless they can prove there is an "imminent threat to the health and safety of the community". They are also not allowed to demand late fees, interest or other charges on unpaid rent. Tenants, however, will still be required to pay back any past-due rent they've accrued when the moratorium has lifted.

When extending the moratorium in the past, the Mayor's Office has justified the decision by saying that the extra time would allow it time to distribute rent relief to tenants and landlords, hopefully preventing a tidal wave of evictions. However, that distribution has been slow-going: Back in August, a Seattle Times report found that King County had distributed just 4.5 percent of the money it had been given to help renters and landlords. Distribution efforts have since improved, but Sawant argues Seattle residents are still not prepared for the moratorium to end.

"I urge you to do the right thing and extend the eviction moratorium through to the end of the COVID public health emergency," Sawant said. "As long as there is an emergency, renters must be part of the emergency protections."

Once the moratorium does expire, landlords are encouraged to offer flexible repayment plans, though the city has also passed an ordinance creating a system of standardized repayment plans.

Residential tenants who do receive eviction notices during the moratorium can file a complaint by calling the Renting in Seattle hotline at 206-684-5700 or online through the City of Seattle's website.