Tell Seattle City Council To BAN Pet Rent, Not Just Cap It

At their 2pm Tuesday meeting, the Seattle City Council will vote on Mayor Katie Wilson’s junk fee ban, an ordinance that lays out what landlords can charge for, mandates upfront transparency for those charges, and bans anything not explicitly permitted in that list. The legislation can pass as is — it earned five votes in committee — but there’s a chance the council waters down the bill with amendments to cap “pet rent” instead of outright banning it and to allow landlords to charge tenants an opt out fee for renters insurance rather than an opt in fee. 

Seattle renters still have time to tell the council to vote no on these amendments (amendments C and D respectively) at public comment ahead of the final vote Tuesday. 

Pet rent dominated the popular discourse around this legislation. Almost 3,500 of the 8,800 respondents to the Mayor’s junk fee survey said they pay pet rent. 

Local drag queen Harper Bizarre and a band of activists adorned with slightly less glitter even hosted a pet fashion show to support the possible ban. 

Attendees at that fashion show told The Burner that they saw these fees as little more than a creative way for landlords to line their pockets. After all, landlords already charge separate pet deposits and security deposits to account for damage a tenant causes during their lease — charges the junk fee ban still explicitly allows.

But the pet rent ban could be in jeopardy. Council Member Bob Kettle proposed an amendment to allow landlords to charge pet rent, but cap it at $25 a month per cat or dog. That may not sound like much to every renter, especially for anyone who already pays $50 a month, but that adds up to an additional $300 per year per pet on top of the pet deposits landlords can still charge. 

Also, the fee comes with a CPI escalator, so when inflation makes everything else in a renter's life more expensive, landlords can also hike up rent on Fido. Between 2016 and 2026, the total cumulative inflation rate added up to 39.14%. If inflation follows the same trend in the ten years, that would cap pet rent at almost $35 per month per pet or $420 a year.

The junk fee ban already allows landlords to impose plenty of fees, tell City Council at 2pm that they don’t need another way to nickel and dime their tenants.