Seattle mayor vetoes rental housing data bill

(The Center Square) – Legislation to collect data on rental rates in Seattle has been vetoed by Mayor Bruce Harrell.

“While I appreciate and respect the sponsor’s intent, this proposed legislation would not have collected reliable data according to experts at the University of Washington and likely could not have been implemented in time to influence our Comprehensive Plan update,” Harrell said in a statement. “I look forward to working with Council – in addition to renters and small landlords – to address the needs we have for better data and more affordable housing options.”

The bill passed through the Seattle City Council by a vote of five to four and went to Harrell’s desk for his signature. It would have cost between $2 million to $5 million with no identified funding source, according to the Mayor’s Office.

The vetoed ordinance would have required landlords to provide information about their property and rental units to a third party research institution. Seattle City Council Chair Debora Juarez, Councilmembers Teresa Mosqueda, Sara Nelson and Dan Strauss opposed the bill. During debate, they said their concerns were the costs of the data collection as well as how it could single out small landlords.

The bill was co-sponsored by Councilmembers Alex Pederson and Tammy Morales. They argued that if Harrell had signed the ordinance into law, it would have “efficiently filled the longstanding gap in rental housing data needed for better-informed policymaking about affordable housing.”

They added that the city government has lacked the level of detail to understand Seattle’s housing inventory for the past four years.

“Similar laws to collect rental housing data are already in place throughout the nation, so the veto means Seattle is still behind the times,” Pedersen said in a separate statement. “Rejecting this law seems to be a victory for landlords unwilling to share data and a loss for those seeking data to make informed decisions on preserving and expanding affordable housing in our city.”

Seattle adopted the Rental Housing Registration and Inspection Ordinance several years ago, which requires landlords to provide a list of their rental units. Pederson and Morales wanted to have property owners include rental rates and dimensions of each unit to a research university to analyze the data on top of what the previous ordinance required.

The Seattle City Council has until 30 days from the mayor’s veto, which came on June 10, to override the veto and pass the bill into law. For an override, proponents would need six votes.

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