[WSBARP] [WSBARP Digest] evictions, UD and available housing

[K. Garl Long]

Because you value small housing providers you favor legislation that 
causes small housing providers to sell their rental holdings to hedge 
funds to further reduce the wealth gap?

K. Garl Long

On 1/23/23 17:46, Andrew Hay wrote:
>
> While there is truth to the problem of individuals fleeing the renting 
> market, I would say the discussion is less about horrible landlords 
> owing poor tenants than it is about social priorities. I favor 
> residential properties being owned and managed by individuals and 
> families like Carmen far more than by the hedge funds and the investor 
> class.  So it is sad to see individuals abandoning the rental market 
> because of recent changes in the law and the growth of tenant 
> advocacy.  However, I support both the tenant advocates and the recent 
> law changes.
>
> Some ridiculous proportion of our country’s wealth goes to one percent 
> of the population.  Brookings says the wealthiest one percent owns 
> more than the entire middle class.  By Bernie’s math it is 99%.   In 
> any case, the wealth gap is ridiculous.  The wealth gap is a product 
> of social policy – whether it be taxation, market regulation, and 
> state and federal legislation.  Little is being done to change this 
> and the gap is growing not narrowing.
>
> The Landlord tenant-relation is a microcosm of this.  Landlords are 
> invariably more wealthy than tenants.
>
> Roughly half of rental housing in the US is owned by investment trusts 
> or hedge funds.
>
> Hedge funds and investment trusts make billions of dollars and pay 
> little taxes – less than middle income people.  Hedge funds are 
> essentially a vehicle for wealth to be taken from the 99 percent and 
> given to the one percent.
>
> So half the housing in the US is owned by the very vehicle that 
> perpetuates and increases the wealth gap.
>
> One a more narrow scale, the average monthly rent for a one-bedroom 
> apartment in Seattle is $2,615.
>
> Minimum wage is $15 an hour which creates a gross wage of $2500 a month.
>
> The situation is not much better outside of Seattle.  The benefits of 
> living in lower rental areas are offset by the high cost of auto 
> transit, flimsy public transportation, and the stress and time loss of 
> commuting.
>
> It doesn’t stop there.  Homelessness is increasing.  People are 
> homeless because they can’t afford rent, have been evicted and can no 
> longer rent, or have life issues – addiction, mental health, etc.   
> Our social infrastructure to support this population has decreased 
> proportionally over time – and the numbers of homeless everywhere are 
> increasing.
>
> People recognize the fundamental inequity of this. That has led to the 
> changes in housing legislation that slow the pace of fast, cheap 
> evictions.  This is a good thing.  I wouldn’t say it will stop the 
> wealth gap from increasing but it treats a symptom of the wealth gap. 
> Unfortunately treating symptoms is not a cure for the disease, but it 
> is better than doing nothing and therefore better than maintaining the 
> status quo.
>
> For people with one or two rentals, it is unfortunate that you have to 
> abandon the rental market because you are better landlords than the 
> hedge funds.  But you can always move into more secure investments 
> like the stock market.  And find comfort in the 7% to 8% annual gains 
> in that investment vehicle.  Ironically these returns are largely due 
> now to the hedge funds and the wealth gap they perpetuate.
>
> The people really suffering from the current changes in rental 
> realities are renters.  The recent changes in the balance of power 
> that favor renters are only the first of many steps that need to be 
> taken to support that group.
>
> *Andrew Hay*
>
> Hay & Swann PLLC
>
> 201 S. 34^th St.
>
> Tacoma, WA 98418
>
> /www.washingtonlaw.net <http://www.washingtonlaw.net>/
>
> /andrewhay at washingtonlaw.net/
>
> He/him/his
>
> 253.272.2400 (w)
>
> 253.377.3085 (c)
>
> *From:* wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com 
> <wsbarp-bounces at lists.wsbarppt.com> *On Behalf Of *Carmen Rowe
> *Sent:* Thursday, January 19, 2023 6:29 PM
> *To:* WSBA Real Property Listserv <wsbarp at lists.wsbarppt.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [WSBARP] [WSBARP Digest] evictions, UD and available 
> housing
>
> I'll short-cut my response rather than try to cut & paste the digest, 
> other than this brief excerpt:
>
>
> "Food for thought - the unlawful detainer statute was created for a 
> quick and efficient way to resolve the issue of possession. It's no 
> longer quick, it's no longer efficient, and it's no longer affordable 
> for many landlords. Some are starting to consider walking away from 
> unlawful detainers and just file full on ejectment cases because now 
> they are likely faster and can resolve all issues more effectively 
> than unlawful detainers can.
> KJ"
>
> Amen, Amen, Amen ... other than it's way beyond that, as someone else 
> noted. Not some, but many, small housing providers are considering 
> (and many have acted upon) leaving the market altogether. I did, and 
> every person I personally know that had a rental property or two did. 
> Those that had it for retirement quickly saw the potential for it to 
> pull them down, not maintain them, and invested elsewhere.
>
> The latest mess just showed that the government is plenty willing to 
> "take" private property to serve the greater good (I know it wasn't 
> technically a "taking" as it said tenants still liable; but the odds 
> of a tenant that far in arrears having the means to pay it back? In I 
> would hazard to say the very vast majority of cases, the words are 
> just air, any judgment worth less than the paper it was printed on). 
> Never mind the ongoing increasingly extreme tenant-protection laws 
> (King County leading, but where KC goes, the rest apparently 
> eventually follows). No cause eviction was the final straw for many 
> colleagues & friends & family I knew who had rental properties. With 
> the solid market, they simply sold. Which also allowed one of the few 
> remaining options for a straight-forward end to a tenancy.
>
>
> It won't get better. What used to be a viable secondary source of 
> income (and sometimes, critically, a resource for retirement) just 
> isn't anymore. And there goes a significant chunk of the housing 
> market - which contained, by the way, the landlords who were likely 
> the least of the problems the legislation meant to address, and the 
> most likely to be accommodating/friendly/humane to their tenants, with 
> whom there was a more personal connection by the nature of the person 
> just having a few rentals. So you eliminate a significant chunk of the 
> housing, and another chunk gets passed to the 'mass production 
> landlords' who are the worse offenders.
>
> I could not agree more with that comment that this is a horrible trend 
> long-term for homelessness, so the purported protections will do great 
> harm.
>
> But I never seem to see any discussion on that. Only how horrible 
> landlords are, how they "owe" it to the tenants, how they were somehow 
> just living high on this side gig. Is there any balance to the 
> discussion anywhere?
>
> Carmen Rowe//
>
> //
>
> ////
>
> Phone: (360) 669-3576 (direct cell)
>
> Email: Carmen at GryphonLawGroup.com <mailto:Carmen at GryphonLawGroup.com>
>
> *Olympia/Lacey and primary mailing office:*
>
> 1415 College Street SE, Lacey, WA 98503
>
> *Seattle office: *2611 NE 113th St. Suite 300, Seattle, WA 98125
>
> *NOTICE REGARDING OPERATIONS AND COVID-19:* We see our community as 
> working together to address COVID and its impact on our lives, health, 
> and business. The nature of our practice lends itself well to virtual 
> operation and we offer a range of flexible solutions to best work with 
> your needs and preferences. We are here to support you.
>
> *Privileged and confidential: *This message is confidential. If you 
> receive this message in error, please let us know, and please delete 
> and disregard any information it contains. We thank you for your 
> respect in not sharing this email with anyone.
>
>
> ***Disclaimer: Please note that RPPT listserv participation is not restricted to practicing attorneys and may include non-practicing attorneys, law students, professionals working in related fields, and others.***
>
> _______________________________________________
> WSBARP mailing list
> WSBARP at lists.wsbarppt.com
> http://mailman.fsr.com/mailman/listinfo/wsbarp
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/wsbarp/attachments/20230124/dd6f94c2/attachment.html>