Seattle

The Seattle City Council voted to ban most types of rental fees on Tuesday — a move welcomed by tenants’ advocates, who argue that tacked-on charges make housing more expensive and obscure its true costs to renters.

Tuesday’s bill requires landlords to disclose all mandatory and optional fees upfront in home listings or ads. The ordinance will take effect July 1, 2027.

It allows but limits the mandatory fees that landlords can charge to certain application screening fees, move-in fees, utility fees, and security and pet damage deposits, among a handful of others. Also allowed are fees for replacing lost keys or letting locked-out residents back into their homes.

Crucially, the ordinance will prohibit landlords from charging fees deemed “unfair or excessive,” including for common area access, package collection, and having a pet.

Optional fees would have to be explicitly disclosed as such. Landlords would be prohibited from charging a markup on services provided by third parties.

Cheers and applause rippled through the crowd at City Hall on Tuesday as supporters of the ordinance celebrated its passage. “We’re tired of being nickel-and-dimed,” said Carolyn Russell, a renter who lives in Seattle’s third district. Russell estimates having paid thousands of dollars over seven years of renting in the form of pet rent.