Washington state’s eviction moratorium to expire this month

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) said on Thursday that the state’s eviction moratorium would expire at the end of month on Sunday.

“We have to have some end to the moratorium. You can’t have an economy ultimately where just nobody pays rent,” the Democratic governor said, according to The Seattle Times.

Though several cities have already passed legislation to continue a moratorium for evictions into next year — including Kenmore and Seattle — the move will allow other areas that have not passed similar protections to start pursuing evictions against tenants who have fallen behind on their rent, the newspaper noted.

Legislation passed in Washington state earlier this year during the coronavirus pandemic increased some tenant protections, including requiring landlords to “offer the tenant a reasonable schedule for repayment of the unpaid rent that does not exceed monthly payments equal to one-third of the monthly rental charges during the period of accrued debt.”

Inslee also urged tenants and landlords to take advantage of programs that offer legal help to renters and mediate conflicts between the two sides, according to The Seattle Times. 

Several days after the expiration of a blanket eviction moratorium, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in August issued an extension on an eviction ban for areas of the country that were witnessing higher levels of COVID-19 transmission, which was set to expire in early October.

The extension was a result of pressure by Democrats who saw the eviction moratorium lapse and worried that tenants could still be struggling to make rent on time.

However, later that month, the Supreme Court issued a decision saying that “the equities do not justify depriving the applicants of the District Court’s judgment in their favor,” and the extension was ultimately blocked.