The COVID Project
The record
- Jurisdiction
- City of Seattle, Washington · Seattle · Washington
- Level
- City
- Authority
- SMC 10.02.020.A.15; Seattle City Charter art. V, § 2; SMC ch. 10.02; RCW ch. 38.52; Wash. Const. art. XI, § 11; Mayoral Proclamation of Civil Emergency of Mar. 3, 2020
- Issued
- 2020-03-14 Mar. 14, 2020
- Effective
- 2020-03-14 ('Effective immediately'); later orders refer to the modified order filed Mar. 16, 2020 as 'the March 16, 2020, Emergency Order' (read as 2020-03-14)
- End
- 30 days, then extended without interruption: to May 14, 2020; June 4, 2020 (EO 2020-05); Aug. 1, 2020 (EO 2020-06); Dec. 31, 2020 (EO 2020-09); Mar. 31, 2021 (EO 2020-12); June 30, 2021 (EO 2021-02); Sept. 30, 2021 (EO 2021-06); Jan. 15, 2022 (EO 2021-07) (read as 2021-09-30)
- In force
- Mar. 14, 2020 to Sept. 30, 2021
- Quarters
- 2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
2020 Q22020 Q32020 Q42021 Q12021 Q22021 Q3
- Limitation types
- Courts and public officesOther
- Addressees
- owners of housing units in Seattle
- King County Superior Court (eviction defense)
- Functions reached
- PM property management (rent collection, notices, evictions suspended)
- CL/CT court unlawful-detainer dockets
- SV servicing and collections
- CB tenants
- Collection
- Seattle MET-SEA
Operative words
SECTION 1: A. Effective immediately, a moratorium on residential evictions for non-payment is hereby ordered until the earlier of the termination of the civil emergency declared in the Proclamation of Civil Emergency dated March 3, 2020 or 30 days from the effective date of this Emergency Order.... B. An owner of a housing unit shall not issue a notice of termination or initiate an eviction action for non-payment of rent or otherwise act on a termination notice for non-payment of rent during this moratorium. Further, no late fees or other charges due to late payment of rent shall accrue during the moratorium; and C. For any pending eviction action for the non-payment of rent, it shall be a defense to any eviction action that the eviction of the tenant would occur during the moratorium.
Enforcement
SMC 10.02.110 (misdemeanor); civil defense to eviction actions; Council ratification under SMC 10.02.020
Notes
Recites 'a significant 50% drop in the number of tenants appearing in court for their eviction hearings in King County' in the preceding two weeks. Preceded the Governor's statewide moratorium (Proclamation 20-19, Mar. 18, 2020; WA-013) by four days.