Shoreline’s new tenant protection laws are in effect.
Shoreline City Council passed tenant protections on December 11th by a vote of 6-1, despite significant opposition from housing providers with properties in Shoreline and housing associations like WMFHA. Those news tenant protections go into effect Tuesday, December 19th.
What’s changed:
- Notice of Rent Increase
- Move in fees, deposits and last months rent
- Late Fees
- Tenant Screening
- Additional Fees
- Penalties
Shoreline City Council passed tenant protections on December 11 by a vote of 6-1, despite significant opposition from housing providers in Shoreline and housing associations like WMFHA. Ordinance 996 establishes new protections for Shoreline tenants, in addition to those already provided under the Washington State Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA, RCW, 59.18).
Many of the new changes are similar to new tenant protection laws passed in Tacoma (Landlord Fairness Code Initiative). The new tenant protections in Shoreline go into effect on Tuesday, December 19th. As of 8:30am Pacific Time on December 19th, 2023, the Shoreline Municipal Code has not been updated with the new Chapter 9.35 – Residential Tenant Protections.
What has changed in Shoreline:
- Notice of Rent Increase
- 120 days for increase greater than 3% but less than 10%
- 180 days for increase greater than 10%
- Move in fees, deposits and last months rent
- All move-in fees and deposits cannot equal more than one month’s rent
- All such fees can be paid in installments
- Late Fees
- Late fees cannot exceed 1.5% of one month rent
- Tenant may propose different rent due date if their primary source of income is government assistance
- Can request date to align with income payment date
- Tenant Screening
- Landlord may request, but not require social security number or other tax ID as part of screening process
- Additional Fees
- All charges, one-time or recurring, in addition to rent must be included in rental agreement addendum
- May not charge fee for tenant access to common areas or share of utilities for common areas for any landlord duty required by state law, for example mail room
- May not charge fee for issuance of notices to tenant
- Penalties
- Tenants have the right to sue their landlord for violation of the code.
Does this Apply to You?
This only applies to properties in the City of Shoreline. Check to see if your property is in the city limits here.