Legislative Proposal for Tenant Rights Advocacy

11/21/2013

Western Washington University students are an important part of the Bellingham community. Not only do students work and shop at local businesses, many of them also contribute to the local economy by renting homes and apartments off campus. Unfortunately, many students have experienced violations of their Tenant Rights accorded to them by Washington Law. Landlords in Bellingham have a responsibility to ensure that they rent safe homes to their tenants and follow Washington State Law. This is an important issue for the Associated Students of WWU to address because it is negatively impacts Western students three ways:

1. Physically – Health and Safety Law violations in Student rentals (e.g. electrical hazards) and negligent landlord oversight of properties can result in serious injury and suffering by student tenants.

2. Financially – Violations of Washington State Tenant Laws regarding rent and security deposits inappropriately places expenses on students.

3. Psychologically – Students that experience negligent landlords or housing violations often do not know what to do and feel helpless to resolve it. This impacts student wellbeing and impacts their transitions to rentals after WWU.

Currently, Washington State Law Title 59 RCW establishes the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords in Bellingham. It establishes the duties of landlords to ensure rentals are fit for human habitation at all times. These are effective and sound laws. The reality is that many rental properties are not up to housing code here in Bellingham and students sign leases for properties that are effectively substandard and dangerous. Therefore our solution is not to change tenant laws in Bellingham per say, but to enact new policies to enforce them.

Most students cannot identify dangerous housing conditions and do not know WA Landlord-Tenant Law (Source). Unlike many other cities in Washington, Bellingham has a complaint-based system which requires tenants to contact the city for the city to ensure landlord-tenant laws are followed. This means that tenants must not only understand their rights and how to identify safety concerns (e.g. bad wiring), but they must also go to the Bellingham Permit Center and then raise the issue in small claims court if the landlord is unresponsive. Although many landlords are responsible, some landlords ignore their tenants concerns and do not deal with the problems. Some students have voiced fear of retribution from their landlord if they seek legal action. Since many students only live in rentals for 9 months to one year, many of them decide to deal with the housing conditions and negligent landlord behavior out of convenience. The current complaint-based system puts gratuitous pressure on the tenants to pursue their rights and shifts the responsibility away from where it belongs: on the landlord. Like with the food industry, government should guarantee adequate regulation of rentals to protect citizens.

Our Solution

The Associated Students and the Board of Directors must officially raise the issue of Landlord-Tenant Law Reform as a goal for the Academic school year of 2013 – 2014 to protect and stand up for students. The AS can protect student lives by providing educational resources to student tenants and to lobby the city of Bellingham to enforce landlord-tenant policies as the law of Washington sees fit.

Tenant Rights Advocacy has multiple avenues that different groups can act on. Passing tenant reform in Bellingham requires campaign activism on and off campus, engaging students, clubs, the AS, members of the community, and the City officials.

1. Educate: Provide educational resources to students to learn about their rights and the how to resolve landlord-tenant disputes.

2. Mobilize: Raise the issue on campus and with the Bellingham community. Run events and promote the issue in school publications. Engage in student discussions to share experiences, identify it as a collective threat, and then engage students to enact policy change.

3. Enact Policy Change: Connect Bellingham City Council to student concerns about landlord-tenant issues. Propose that the Bellingham City Council passes new laws to:

o Require landlords to include a copy of the Washington Landlord-Tenant Act to tenants when a new lease is signed.

o Require landlords to register all their properties with the Bellingham City Permit Center. Registrations to be kept on public record.

o Establish an inspection service by certified city inspectors in the Bellingham Permit Center to check for health or safety hazards in all rentals. This is to occur on five year intervals.

o Establish a city ordinance for a reasonable fee in new leases to fund these new services.

General Strategy for Tenant Rights Advocacy

· Officially establish Tenant Rights Advocacy as an agenda of the AS.

· Expose the dangers of the current status quo – social media, official reports, and student publications.

· Initiate a poll of students to discern:

o Number of students who live off-campus,

o Number of students who have experienced inadequate landlords,

o Number of students who have experienced health and safety concerns in their homes,

o Number of students who would support reforming Landlord-Tenant laws in Bellingham,

· Create student campaign with official positions, logo, and image to promote the health and safety of students.

· Share student stories of rental experiences to raise awareness.

· Plan for on-campus events: open-mic or conference on tenant rights. Promote the campaign plan for Tenant Rights Advocacy and open up to discussion.

· Reach out to the community to bring forth the issue. Reach out to

o Other universities and colleges,

o Neighborhood Committees,

o Nonprofits and Tenant Advocacy Organizations,

o The city of Bellingham,

o Opponents of Landlord-Tenant Reform like realtor organizations,

o Other representatives of cities that have implemented tenant reform,

· Lobby City Council to establish Landlord-Tenant Reform

o Bring students to City council to speak or bring in recordings of students,

o Bring lobbyists from tenant advocacy organizations,

o Propose legislation to pass rental licensing, inspections, and other reforms in Bellingham.

Information on Tenant Rights Advocacy

1. What are the Impacts of this Stronger Tenant Laws?

· Better health and safety of renters in the community – rental inspections would identify hazardous or unsafe rentals and require that they be properly fulfilled by the Washington Building Code. Also when tenants and landlords better comprehend WA law, many problems can be resolved.

· Improved relations between tenants and landlords – when tenants and landlords can mutually identify legitimate issues, they will understand the processes for resolving these issues.

· Train landlords how to manage their properties more effectively by helping identifying safety issues.

· Properties which pass an official city inspection of safety standards in the property will establish landlord qualifications to future tenants.

· Improve the quality and safety of housing in Bellingham.

· Improve neighborhood safety, appearances, and will raise property values thus luring middle-class families into Bellingham.

2. Is it Winnable?

Landlord-Tenant Reform is winnable issue because of the student and community support for reforming the current system. Students already know that the status quo is harmful and if the AS starts campaigning, it can motivate and direct students to constructive action. This issue has been debated many times in the Bellingham city council and there are many supporters of in the community.

3. Does it directly impact and improve student’s lives?

The thousands of WWU Students that live off campus are threatened by negligent landlords, violations of the WA Landlord-Tenant law, and dangerous health and safety issues in their homes. Many students are currently unaware of the rental laws of Washington and are unsure of what to do in case of conflict with their landlord (Source). Even the students that are not renting are still impacted by the health of their peers and the safety of the community. Programs that promote student well-being in their lives are a direct improvement in all of our lives.

4. Does it have a clear target?

The target for the campaign is 1) the students – to mobilize and educate about tenant rights and 2) the city of Bellingham. We must lobby the Bellingham Mayor and Bellingham City Council, and especially the public safety committee which constitutes the three council members: Michael Lilliquist, Terry Bornemann, and Gene Knutson. Councilmembers Jack Weiss and Michael Lilliquist are aware of student concerns and may be allies in passing Landlord-Tenant reform in City Council. Other targets to engage may be the large realty companies in Bellingham, community organizations that would support tenant reforms, and the governmental branch that would be implementing the reforms: the Bellingham Permit Center.

5. Does it build a measureable amount of power?

WWU students has been directly impacted by negligent landlords and health and safety violations in their homes. If these issues are addressed and the Bellingham City Council acts on enforcement of the WA Landlord Tenant act and protecting students, then it will be a major victory for students. As something that many students unfortunately deal with, having the city support and protect students would encourage and likely inspire students to be more politically active in the future.

6. Does it have a clear and realistic time frame?

Yes, this is an issue that can begin immediately. Mobilization and education can occur over the course of the school year, and students can lobby and participate in Bellingham City Council meetings during their weekly meetings. The AS should set the goal for enacting new policies before Fall 2014 when students move back to Bellingham and the majority of new leases begin.

7. Does it have local support and organizing potential?

Yes, rental safety and regulation has been a common topic here in Bellingham. Rental licensing has some popular support and there are many in the Bellingham community that would support stricter enforcement of WA Tenant Rights. Also, the 2010 Census reported that half of Bellingham city residents’ housing units are “renter-occupied”. This is an issue that affects many in the community. The Bellingham City Council adopted “Support Safe, Affordable Housing” and “Provide Access to Accurate Information [of City Services]” in the Legacies and Strategic Commitments which was adopted in July 13, 2009. Many members of the City Council seem supportive of rental safety regulation, and Jack Weiss on City Council has even supported passing rental licensing legislation in Bellingham (Source).There are government resources and organizations that could also be supportive. The Bellingham Permit Center is a service in the Bellingham Housing & Human Services department that inspects rentals to search for building and fire code violations. Also community organizations like the Campus Community Coalition and allies like Dick Conoboy can provide support.

The Bellingham city council members are:

· 1st District: Jack Weiss

· 2nd District: Gene Knutson

· 3rd District: Cathy Lehman

· 4th District: Pinky Vargas

· 5th District: Terry Bornemann

· 6th District: Michael Lilliquist

· At-Large: Roxanne Murphy

8. Could students build a diverse campus coalition around this issue?

Yes, this is an issue that is non-partisan and student oriented. It is not a theoretical or distant issue, and many students have experienced first-hand violations of their tenant rights and rentals that are not up to housing code. However, since the topic of tenant rights is not brought up in our media and personal conversations, many people do not know that many of their peers are experiencing the same problems. When students with shared grievances come together, Students will become galvanized around this topic and mobilization campaigns could empower students to be more active. Organizations on campus could be instrumental in supporting this issue.

9. Is it likely to be debated and acted upon by the local government in the next year?

Yes, members of the Bellingham City Council support implementing new rental regulations and the Bellingham City Council “voted 6-0 to ask Mayor Kelli Linville to include a rental licensing and inspection system in her 2014 budget.” (Source) This is a perfect timing to raise the issue as the local government begins discussions on it. Councilmembers are interested in hearing arguments for Landlord-Tenant Reform and have stated in the 2009 Legacies and Strategic Commitments state that Safe & Prepared Community and Quality, Responsive City Services in Bellingham are goals of the City Coouncil.

10. Will it strengthen and expand efforts within WWU?

Yes, this is an issue that directly promotes the interests of WWU students and their safety. Mobilizing students around tenant rights can lead to feelings of empowerment and more political and social activism later on. The population of Freshmen students at WWU can also learn their rights before they leave on-campus housing for apartments and houses for the 2014-2015 school year.

11. Can you provide background information and historical context of the issue?

This has been an ongoing debate for many years in Bellingham (Source). Students and Landlords have discussed this issue earnestly in the past but no definitive programs are in place in Bellingham to enforce Landlord Tenant laws aside from Small Claims court and informational resources. However, in recent news this last June, Bellingham City Council “voted 6-0 to ask Mayor Kelli Linville to include a rental licensing and inspection system in her 2014 budget.” (Source) This year is an ideal time to bring the issue up to Bellingham City Council and to mobilize students.

12. What creative and/or innovative tactics could we employ to promote the issue and energize student involvement?

· Use Social Media and Student Publications to raise awareness and promote discussion on this issue.

o Participatory Websites: Facebook, Word Press, Viking Village

o Student Publications: Western Front, Klipsun, AS Review, Western Today

o Student Media: KUGS, KVIK

· Student petitions to raise awareness and/or polls as to how many students have experiences unsafe housing or negligent landlords.

o Survey Monkey

o Use past polls as a reference for the magnitude of the issue.

· ‘Open mic’ forum and discussion in public places as to student experiences with rentals – “it’s not just you that’s experienced it!” engagement to bring forth shared grievances.