Section 8 ordinance is ‘fox in sheep’s clothing’ | Letter

We do not discriminate based on ethnicity, background, gender, sexual preference, religion, etc. I do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.

We do not discriminate based on ethnicity, background, gender, sexual preference, religion, etc. I do not tolerate discrimination of any kind.

None of the protected classes of renters cited above carry with them a governmental agency that comes to inspect rental units. None of them. Only the Section 8 voucher program requires pre-inspection and annual inspection. This agency then tells you what needs repair and provides you seven to 14 days to fix it. And there are civil penalties? Any provision to protect landlord if he disagrees?

None of the other protected classes of renters has a government agency wherein the agency chooses comparables and decides if you are charging reasonable rent and asks you to modify your rent lower. Since the agency for Section 8 housing is paying 60-70 percent of the rent, it is likely they’d like lower rent.

None of the other protected classes of renters leave a landlord helpless if the renter has unpaid utility bills. What about bills if there is damage or if there are fines for broken rules?

My concern as an HOA president is that we plan all repairs in a systemized way, we rarely do one-off repairs as this is not methodical, much more expensive and not budgeted. Many repairs are cited that could be HOA expenses, meaning we have to raise monthly dues for our unit owners.

If government interference weren’t part of the Section 8 program, it might be fabulous. The King County Housing Authority website, however, clearly brings up issues that go beyond non-discrimination and become government intrusion.

Karen Levenson, Kirkland