Housing affordability is a constant complaint for many Puget Sound residents. Elected politicians in Seattle as well as the Olympia Legislature have passed a variety of laws regarding rents and housing in recent years.
There have been eviction moratoriums, zoning density laws, landlord regulations and even attempts at rent control which is illegal under Washington law. But there haven’t been any changes in local or state law to handle the removal of squatters if there’s a dispute with the property owner.
KVI’s John Carlson explores that legal stand-off when a squatter inhabits a property owned by someone else. Click the play button below to hear the conversation.
Attorney Scott Freeborn points out in a KVI interview with host Ari Hoffman, that the legal complexities of removing a squatter by a legally recognized property owner have a major impact on renters and tenants with prior credit problems who are seeking housing. Freeborn says the landlord is less likely to rent to a tenant with credit history problems if it takes a year of legal wrangling (contacting local law enforcement and/or hearings in front of judges) to remove a tenant who attempts to squat instead of staying current on rent. Freeborn tells KVI a squatter can cost a landlord upwards of $30,000 in a year’s time.
