(The Center Square) – The Spokane City Council approved emergency tenant protections for residents financially impacted by the Spokane Complex Fires this week, but two council members voted against the measure, raising concerns about potential fraud and the long-term consequences of automatically applying the policy to future emergencies.
The ordinance passed 5-2 Wednesday and provides qualifying, income-eligible tenants with a temporary affirmative defense against eviction for nonpayment of rent if they suffered financial hardship directly related to the Spokane Complex Fires.
The legislation was sponsored by Council Members Kitty Klitzke, Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon. While prompted by the fires, the ordinance also creates a framework for similar protections during future natural disasters and public health emergencies.
Councilman Michael Cathcart, one of two members to vote against the measure, told The Center Square that he supported efforts to help people recover from the fires but had concerns with both the ordinance’s implementation and its permanent application to future emergencies.
Cathcart said one concern involved the self-certification process tenants would use to qualify for the protections.
Under the ordinance, tenants must self-certify that they lost at least 10% of their average monthly household income and that the emergency or disaster made their business or workplace uninhabitable, resulted in a layoff or reduction in pay, or caused a demonstrable loss of business clients in the affected geographic area.
“There’s a number of aspects to the proposed ordinance that really give me a lot of heartburn,” Cathcart said. “A lot of that has to do with the self-certification and that whole process that goes along with it, trying to make sure that we don’t basically get into a situation where landlords are having to deal with fraud.”
However, Cathcart said he could have moved past some of those concerns. His biggest objection was that the policy extends beyond the current fire emergency and could automatically take effect during future disasters.
“I really think that we should be focused on the Spokane Complex fires,” Cathcart said. “How do we address the issues there? And we can come back and work on perhaps a longer-term policy that might have impacts down into the future.”
The ordinance encourages tenants and landlords to work together on repayment plans.
Cathcart said his larger concern is that the new policy differs from other powers available to the mayor during an emergency because it automatically takes effect once an emergency is declared.
“This is the first and only policy that is now in code that says if you declare an emergency, this will go into effect,” Cathcart said.
He said other emergency powers are tools a mayor can choose to use depending on the circumstances, including modifying procurement rules or taking other actions necessary to address a specific emergency.
Cathcart said he does not want a future mayor to face questions about whether declaring an emergency could trigger unintended consequences under the tenant protection ordinance.
“I don’t want to ever see a mayor debating whether or not the impacts of this policy might be greater than the need for a declaration of emergency,” Cathcart said.
He also compared the potential financial impact to eviction protections implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic.
While eviction restrictions during the pandemic came with significant federal and state financial assistance, Cathcart said there is no guarantee similar funding would be available to tenants or landlords following future disasters.
Landlords could still face mortgage payments, maintenance costs and property taxes while tenants are unable to make rent payments, he said.
“We’re not suspending taxes,” Cathcart said. “We’re not suspending a number of things like that.”
Cathcart said he proposed an amendment that would have allowed the ordinance to take effect for the Spokane Complex Fires while requiring future mayors to specifically include the protections in subsequent emergency orders. The amendment received support from Council President Wilkerson but failed to gain majority support.
For now, Cathcart said the council will have to monitor the policy and determine whether unintended consequences emerge.
“If we do start to see that, then perhaps it needs to be brought back and revised in some manner,” he said.
Supporters, however, said the ordinance is intended to give disaster victims time to access available assistance without facing the immediate threat of eviction.
“While we are all working hard to get as much assistance as possible to wildfire victims, these processes take time,” Klitzke said in a statement. “This ordinance helps give folks time to get the resources they need to avoid catastrophic consequences like eviction.”
As an emergency ordinance, the tenant protections took effect immediately upon passage.