Mayor Jenny Durkan is imposing a ban on evictions for 30 days because of COVID-19. This ban will last through April and could be extended. Let me start with a paragraph I wrote in a post at Forbes about COVID-19 eviction bans:

“An eviction ban now does nothing to replace lost wages, money that people used to pay all their bills. An eviction ban does nothing to help buy groceries. An eviction ban does nothing to fill prescriptions, put gas in the tank, pay student loans, or help folks back home. In a word, an eviction ban does nothing but defer rent costs to the future, a future that for almost everyone today is as unclear as when a vaccine for the virus might be found.”

Nobody out there was thinking about eviction other than activists like Kshama Sawant who is bent on destroying the rental housing market.
There are some out there who think that by supporting such a ban, housing providers will be seen as “good guys,” willing to help out in a crisis. You are already the good guys. Housing providers and people who build housing are giving people what they need, and everyone is already pitching in to help with families struggling.

Here’s something I heard from a housing provider last week:

“We have heard from many renters with concerns about paying rent in due April 1. Most of these renters are ideal tenants with no issues of rent payment. As an owner, I am lucky enough where I can work with these renters for a month or 2. But this is grave concern to me. Knowing how these landlord businesses operate, most landlords (including most of my clients) will not be able to withstand 2 months of this.”

This is what is real. A ban on evictions does nothing to help this situation. What would help is immediate assistance for families and individuals who are losing jobs and income. That would be the compassionate thing to do. Instead, the Mayor will create more question and chaos at a time when certainty is what is desperately needed.

Please let us know how you’re dealing with this crisis. We need real stories from people working with residents and each other to show that nobody is using this as an excuse to evict anyone. Email me here: Roger@seattleforgrowth.org