I believe that my fellow Boomer landlords and Oly residents are missing the reality faced by the majority renters in Olympia.
• I have been a landlord in Oly since 1992 and have had 6 houses/units over the years – I have 3 now within the City.
• However, the date shows that housing is the single greatest challenge faced by folks right now – costs, availability, etc. Over 40% of our residents are stressed by housing costs over 40% or their income.
• I believe that the City (and all cities) need to be able to communicate with their landlords to engage them on both challenges and opportunities. This registry ordinance enables that communication and gives the City an understanding of who are our landlords – which you don’t currently know.
• Being a landlord is a business (and a good one at that in these times); I am befuddled as to why my fellow landlords are freaking out about $35 per unit per year given the average monthly rents in our region. I don’t believe that this will drive anyone to “leave the market”. Sorry – especially these folks (some friends) who bought houses cheap 6 years or 25 years back for under $150K.
• I also realize that some are fearful of the “every five-year inspection”. Again – our food, healthcare and other critical human and public health needs are inspected regularly – (not every five years). So what’s the problem?
• In my past I had a tenant under Section 8 HUD; the Housing Authority did inspections and I learned some helpful information from them. Yes, it was weird at first, but not a bad thing – and that was under HUD standards.
• Housing is a basic necessity, and our government needs to support ALL are residents.
Please quit crying fellow Boomers, understand our privileged obligations and help the current and future generations to succeed!
Paul Knox
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