‘Visible and salient’ — Mayor leading charge on Seattle rental fee regulation

From the mayor’s office “junk fee” survey of renters

Mayor Katie Wilson is calling for support behind her effort to attack “rental junk fees” with new legislation in front of the Seattle City Council that would create a new regulatory fee on rental units to fund a team at City Hall to enforce restrictions on certain types of fees and transparency from landlords. The mayor and proponents say the proposal will create more fair and predictable costs for renters with the potential to eliminate an unexpected 10% to 30% to a renter’s total monthly costs. Advertised rents may go up as a result, backers say, but “visible and salient” prices will lead to a more competitive and more fair market for renters.

Under the legislation scheduled to come before the council’s housing and civil rights committee Wednesday afternoon, a roster of fees would be prohibited and restricted, and landlords would be subject to strict record-keeping and transparency regulations:

Transparency & Disclosure Requirements

• Upfront Advertisement: All mandatory and optional fees must be fully disclosed in rental listings/advertisements. If listing size or word limits make full text infeasible online, a clear, labeled hyperlink directly to the disclosures may be used.
• Lease Signing Disclosure: A concise, conspicuous summary form (no longer than two pages) detailing rent, concessions, utilities, and all fees must be provided before the first page of the rental agreement.
• Ongoing Notices: Landlords must issue a monthly statement detailing each variable fee (disclosing a 12-month average or reasonable estimate for new buildings). Additionally, an updated two-page disclosure form must be provided every 12 months or whenever a non-variable fee changes.
• No Administrative Charges: Landlords are prohibited from charging tenants any fee to prepare or deliver disclosure forms or monthly statements.

Permitted Fees

• Standard Moving & Rental Fees: Application screening fees, security deposits, pet damage deposits, late rent fees, and utility fees (RUBS).
• Incidental Landlord Expenses: Key replacement fees (capped at actual cost or $50, whichever is lower); lockouts (capped at $50 during regular business hours and $150 after hours); and insufficient funds/bounced checks (capped at actual bank cost or $31, whichever is lower).
• Actual Damages & Defaults: Qualified, documented tenant repairs and legal rent defaults/abandonment liabilities.

Prohibited Optional Fees

• Use of standard in-unit appliances or features (except for portable cooling device rentals).
• Standard tenant access to common building areas.
• Payment processing fees for paying rent via personal check, money order, cashier’s check, or ACH.
• Receiving/collecting mail and package distribution.
• Fees for partial changes of tenancy (adding or removing a roommate, excluding screening fees).
• Periodic or one-time pet fees (only a standard pet damage deposit is allowed).

Recordkeeping & Private Right of Action

• Compliance Records: Landlords must retain all rental housing advertisements, applications, signed leases, disclosure forms, and third-party receipts for three years. Failure to do so creates a legal presumption that the landlord violated the rental code.
• Private Lawsuits: Tenants can file civil actions against non-compliant landlords. Landlords can be held liable for actual damages, double the amount of any unlawfully charged fee or withheld deposit, attorney fees, and a penalty of up to $4,000 for including prohibited provisions in a lease.
• Eviction Defense: Charging a prohibited fee reduces the legal rent due in an unlawful detainer action, serving as an affirmative defense against eviction.
• Class Actions: Multiple tenants can seek joint relief against a common landlord sharing the same non-compliant policy or practice.

Information from a Stanford study of rental fee regulation is included in a council presentation on the proposal

Under the plan, the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections would be authorized to enforce the new rules with a three-person team backed by a $11 per rental unit regulatory fee billed to landlords every two years.

“Seattle renters keep getting the squeeze as hidden rental ‘junk fees’ add to already high housing costs,” the announcement from Wilson’s office of a pre-session rally at City Hall reads. “Join us on July 8 as we stand in support of renter protections to curb junk fees and make Seattle more affordable.”

Wilson says she will be joined by City Councilmember Dionne Foster and City Attorney Erika Evans at Wednesday’s rally.

The effort comes after the Wilson administration convened a campaign of public forums and a renter survey to take on junk fees as part of the mayor’s first major initiatives as she began her first term early this year.

You can see some of the results of that survey effort in this presentation on the proposed legislation that will be part of Wednesday’s council committee session:

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