SarahC's comment is incorrect. Small landlords, statistically speaking, offer lower rents, lower eviction rates, resolve issues at lower levels, and are willing to rent to tenants who don't fit into a box. The JOLT slightly misquoted my comment at the hearing, which was that small landlords "screen people in" (not that they "screen people"), vs their corporate counterparts who rent only to tenants who fit into a clean little box.
Some rent increases do need to occur, in order for even the small landlord to stay afloat - our property taxes, insurance, and maintenance increase every year. When I was a tenant I had no idea just how costly these items were, and I can tell you that my tenants are generally pretty clueless about what these costs look like on my end. It is important to realize that every rent increase is not a matter of the housing provider being greedy. As with anything, costs go up regularly in the housing industry.
Small landlords also own and operate a large chunk of the single-family and small multi-family housing stock in Olympia. What happens as this stock is sold off, in part to home buyers, as small landlords leave the market? Will more and more tenants be relegated to apartment living, leaving single-family homes as something only available to homeowners and very wealthy tenants? This is another thing for Olympia to really consider.
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