Title
Approach to Rental Housing Outreach
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Discussion only. No action requested.
City Manager Recommendation:
Discussion only. No action requested.
Report
Issue:
Whether to discuss the scope and approach for the rental housing community outreach.
Staff Contact:
Cary Retlin, Home Fund Manager, Executive, 360.570.3956
Presenter(s):
Cary Retlin, Home Fund Manager
Christa Lenssen, Housing Program Specialist
Background and Analysis:
Staff will provide the committee with an update on statewide changes to the Residential Landlord Tenant Act recently signed by the Governor, a brief history of this topic, and options for next steps on engaging the public on actions Olympia could take relevant to renter protections.
Past Tenant Protection Conversations with the Land Use and Environment Committee (LUEC) and City Council
In May 2019, City of Tumwater staff approached Olympia, Lacey, and Thurston County to propose a cross-jurisdictional approach to exploring renter protections. Tumwater staff shared a long list of tenant protections that served as the beginning of potential changes that could be considered. That list was ranked by the Tumwater City Council based on impact and ease of adoption. The LUEC reviewed that list in August and made their own rankings with many overlaps.
In October 2019, the LUEC reviewed and revised a list of the Tumwater protections and ranked them based on what appears most ready for consideration for adoption. Many of those items have been adopted in other cities. Just causes for terminations of tenancy were on that list.
In October 2019, the Washington Community Action Network and local tenants rallied outside City Hall and spoke to the City Council about renter protections. They also proposed renter protections for Olympia that included just causes for terminations and evictions.
In March 2019, the LUEC hosted a community meeting on rental housing at Washington Middle School to kickoff...
Click here for full text