Shoreline City Council passes tenant protection law

Shoreline has now joined Tacoma in passing laws to protect tenants.

The Shoreline City Council approved a new ordinance that establishes additional protections for Shoreline tenants, above those already provided under the Washington State Residential Landlord-Tenant Act (RLTA, RCW, 59.18).

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Ordinance 966 adds additional notice requirements for base rent increases. For base rent increases greater than three percent but less than 10%, landlords are required to provide 120-day notice. For base rent increases of 10% or greater, landlords must give at least 180 days notice.

All move-in fees and security deposits cannot exceed a combined one month’s rent. Tenants have the right to pay these fees in installments. The number of installments depends upon the length of the lease.

Late fees cannot exceed 1.5% of the tenant’s monthly rent.

A tenant may propose, in writing, that the landlord change the due date for rent in the rental agreement to a different day of the month if the tenant’s primary source of income is a regular, monthly source of government assistance.

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A landlord may request, but can’t require, a prospective tenant to provide a social security number or other type of tax identification number for screening purposes.

The new ordinance also outlines fee structures:

• All fees must be listed in the rental agreement.
• A landlord may not charge a fee for a tenant’s access to common areas and/or a prorated share of utilities for such areas or for the performance of any landlord duty required by the RLTA.
• A landlord may not charge a fee associated with the issuance of a notice to a tenant, even if the notice is required by state law, including but not limited to a fee for preparing and delivering a notice regarding late payment of rent, a notice to pay or vacate, or a notice of noncompliance with a rental agreement.

The new rules go into effect Dec. 19.