Spokane residents struggling to pay rent during and after a disaster will have additional safeguards after the City Council approved new emergency protections on Wednesday evening.
The Spokane City Council approved an eviction moratorium for renters while a declared emergency is in effect. The ordinance passed on a 5-2 vote, with Council President Betsy Wilkerson and council member Michael Cathcart voting against the proposal.
While the ordinance is a response to the Spokane Complex fires, it will apply to future emergencies declared in the city. The ordinance took effect immediately upon approval on Wednesday.
Ahead of final passage, Councilman Paul Dillon, who cosponsored the ordinance, said he was “a little dismayed” about how short the Governor’s temporary moratorium on evictions lasted following the fires.
“And so this ordinance was really trying to quickly respond to that so there wouldn’t be this, sort of, day gap,” Dillon said. “But already we pushed it back after further amendments. So there’s been a time where tenants have not had that relief.”
The ordinance establishes a temporary eviction moratorium for tenants who lose at least 10% of their average monthly income as a direct result of natural disasters and health emergencies.
Lost income could result from a business being destroyed, layoffs or a reduction of hours or pay as a result of an emergency such as the Spokane Complex fires.
At least 10% of a tenant’s income must be lost to qualify, even after calculating payments from unemployment insurance, emergency benefits or other sources.
Under the ordinance, renters and landlords are “encouraged” to come to an agreement on a payment plan for missed payments. Following the emergency, a renter will have 12 months to repay any missed payments, and landlords cannot charge late charges, fees or any other penalties.
To qualify, a tenant must have applied for either a disaster assistance program, unemployment benefits or other income assistance.
The moratorium is triggered by an emergency declaration by the mayor and applies during the length of the declared emergency.
Dillon cited a similar law passed in Pasadena, California, following the 2025 Eaton fire, but said the Spokane ordinance is the first in the country to apply to future disasters.
Prior to approval, cosponsor Sarah Dixit said the ordinance is “really important for looking proactively into the future.”
“And seeing how we can provide this protection so that tenants don’t have that looming eviction over them when they’re trying to navigate a disaster,” Dixit said. “And so I’m proud that we are moving this forward and doing so in a way that provides protection for tenants in the future.”
Following adoption, Dillon said in an interview that he wished a similar ordinance would have been in place during the November 2015 Spokane windstorm, which left around 200,000 people without power.
“And so that started to, I think, motivate to create something that is meeting the moment, but also addressing long-term concerns,” Dillon said.
The council voted 5-2 against an amendment Cathcart introduced that would have required the mayor to include the moratorium in future emergency declarations.
“It simply says that we are going to allow this to go into effect today as a qualifying event, but beginning October 1st, the mayor must reference or include this within an emergency declaration for it to be enacted,” Cathcart said of his amendment.
Wilkerson said the moratorium was “probably the only ordinance” that has ever kept her up at night during her time on the council.
“Because I also worry about the landlords, too,” Wilkerson said. “We talked about extreme conditions. Well, they experienced extreme conditions as well, and how do we expect them to hold on during extreme conditions? I know it says 12 months, but that can be a lot.”
Dillon said Wednesday that rental assistance remains available to help renters before they face evictions, and pointed to the pathways to eviction diversion program that the council approved earlier this year.
“I feel like these ordinances are really complementary, and I’m grateful that that ordinance will be there as a stopgap to address those concerns,” Dillon said.