The City of Seattle was poised to require landlords to report how much they are charging for rent; that was until Bruce Harrell, mayor of Seattle, struck the legislation down after its narrow 5-4 passage.
, a policy group with a board consisting of real estate developers including Windermere, Re/Max, and John L. Scott.
“Everybody who works with rental data wants accurate data … [but] everybody keeps shooting themselves in the foot because landlords ultimately have to trust who they’re giving the data to, to make sure that those confidential arrangements are met. And they get something out of it in terms of accurate data. Because the landlords also benefit from getting accurate data, in terms of what the pricing is, and where they fit competitively in the marketplace.
Proponents of the bill among the council are at a loss to reckon with concerns about rental data transparency, pointing to similar legislative pushes in New York and California. The councilmember also pointed to the fact that landlords are already required to register and submit information to the city: this latest ordinance would have added to those requirements.