Navigating new Seattle rent increase restrictions
Speaking about the brand new Seattle rules about giving 180 days notice for ANY rent increase and paying relocation costs if the tenant is unable to continue living there, what logistics have you come up with to navigate this? I'm thinking I will give all tenants a routine 6.5 month notice of rent increasing by $100 or so, which I may or may not end up following through with. All of mine turn over in summer, so 6 months is well before I know how much the taxes will be increasing, so this would buy me some flexibility. As far as tenants claiming not to be able to afford this increase, I'm not sure if they would have to prove through paystubs or something. Obviously, the best approach is to select tenants that can comfortably withstand a small increase each year so they can't claim this, but circumstances can change. How are you planning to manage this new crazy rule?