A national perspective on Seattle’s recent regulations

As most Seattleites in the real estate business know, the City Council recently passed new requirements Landlords need to follow upon receipt of an rental application. The basic premise being, Landlords must accept the first completed application meeting their reasonable criteria. If the application is incomplete or more information is necessary, the applicant essentially are able to “hold” the apartment for up to 72 hours without any holding deposit or other funds. The City Council believes this regulation will help remove any discriminitory behavior (whether it’s racial, employer, etc.) around apartment applicants.

The American Thinker article linked to below, takes an opposing view of the new requirements and welcomes the recent Landlord-driven lawsuit, calling the Council “heavy handed” in their assumption that Landlords are discriminitory. At a minimum, the regulation adds another layer of bureacracy onto Landlords or their property managers. It should be noted that article’s author is associated with the firm filing the lawsuit; still it will be interesting to see how the author’s contention that the regulation is unconstitutional will be viewed by the courts.

Seattle Taking a National Lead