Tenant activists call on Gov. Inslee to extend eviction moratorium and cancel rent

About 20 people gathered in front of the state Capitol Friday morning to call for mass debt forgiveness for tenants and an extension of Gov. Jay Inslee’s executive order prohibiting evictions, which is set to expire Oct. 15.

Demonstrators held signs saying “cancel rent and mortgages,” “no debt no evictions” and “housing is the cure.”

“Not everybody can make it today, but we speak for the thousands upon thousands of families who are experiencing not paying the rent and fear of becoming homeless,” said Violet Lavatai, interim executive director of the Tenants Union of Washington State. Members of Olympia chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America also joined the event.

Tenants Union organizers said the amount of debt Washington tenants have accrued during the pandemic will be impossible to pay off, and many families are already choosing between paying rent and feeding their families. That’s why they’re calling for government action to cancel rent – essentially legislating debt forgiveness for tenants who have fallen behind on rent.

“Every day my phone goes off with people panicking because they don’t know when the [eviction] moratorium is going to end,” said Julissa Sanchez, a tenant organizer who works with Latino renters in South King County. “They’re asking me if on the 15th of October, when the moratorium expires, if they’re going to be evicted and have to move out of their homes, if they’re going to be on the streets.”

Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that nearly 200,000 households in Washington state have missed rent payments, and more than 300,000 households have put rental payments on credit cards, sinking deeper into debt.

The governor’s order says landlords have to offer a “reasonable repayment plan,” but does not define what “reasonable” means. Activists worry that if the moratorium expires, mass evictions will quickly result.

“There is not enough money in the state budget to provide the amount of rent assistance that would be necessary to keep all of Washingtonians housed,” said tenant education coordinator Dinah Braccio. “We think rent cancellation is the only viable solution, and until the state legislature convenes to do that, Gov. Inslee needs to extend the eviction moratorium so more people are not made homeless.”

Rent cancellation as an idea has gained traction since the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic recession, though it can mean different things.

In April, U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar introduced a bill, dubbed the “Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act,” that would have relieved renters of their payment obligations until the national emergency is lifted, and established a federal fund to bail out landlords for their losses. It would also tie reimbursement to rent freezes and other fair housing and tenant legal protections.

Gov. Inslee first issued the executive order barring most evictions in March, and extended and expanded it in April, June, and again in July.

Braccio said the moratorium should be extended through the end of March, to give the legislature time to act, and that the governor’s strategy of “piecemeal extensions” keeps people in anxious limbo about whether their housing is secure.

Sanchez also called for removing a provision in the governor’s order that allows landlords to give tenants a 60-day notice if they plan to sell or occupy the property. She said she believes landlords are using those exceptions to “intimidate” and “retaliate” against tenants who can’t pay.