Representatives from the Black Legacy Homeowners group are expected to be part of a panel discussion as part of Monday’s session
The Seattle City Council is considering protections hoped to help shield homeowners from predatory home-buying practices that target communities of color and vulnerable populations in an effort to slow displacement and erosion of generational wealth.
A proposed ordinance part of the Housing, Arts, and Civil Rights Committee’s Monday session would establish a new unfair housing practice in the city to protect homeowners from unwanted, unsolicited offers to purchase their residential properties. Administered by the Office of Civil Rights, the legislation would create a citywide “Do Not Solicit List” to safeguard resident privacy, prevent predatory real estate practices, and help slow the displacement of vulnerable communities.
According to the council’s analysis, homeowners across Seattle have reported excessive, unwanted solicitations to sell their homes. These unsolicited offers can result in owners selling below market value.
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In 2023, CHS reported on the Black Legacy Homeowners effort formed to celebrate and protect Black home ownership in the Central District from gentrification and predatory development.
The newly proposed ordinance would make the aggressive real estate practices illegal by establishing the restrictions on solicitation.
Officials say the protections are even more important now. The city expects updates to the Comprehensive Plan allowing more “middle housing” types in areas formerly zoned exclusively for single-family homes, to also bring an increase in unsolicited, potentially predatory real estate activity citywide.
The Seattle proposal is modeled after similar frameworks in New York State and in Philadelphia. Unlike New York’s neighborhood-specific zones, Seattle will follow Philadelphia’s model of a permanent, citywide registry.
Violation of the rules would bring a $1,000 fine enforced by the Office of Civil Rights growing to $2,000 for each subsequent violation in a 12-month period.
Officials say the program will cost around $370,000 a year to implement with a planned launch date in June 2027.
sounds like a way to slow down new housing when we most need it, because it will undoubtedly be used by nimbys to tie up non-predatory actions in court. what are some examples of predatory actions that have been highlighted that this would stop?
“unsolicited” offers is pretty vague. were/are people being pressured in some way? lied to? this has the stink of the same people that want to “protect” trees as a way to keep new residents out of their neighborhoods and more people from being housed.
I’m not opposed to this but despite hearing these claims of being inundated with aggressive sales pitches I’ve only seen one postcard and it wasn’t even overly aggressive. Is there any reason why you can’t have proof to back up accusations? Again, this ordinance is not a bad idea but claims behind it I question.
I have received literally *hundreds* of phone calls asking if I want to sell my property, often 4 or 5 in a day. I would welcome the regulation of these calls.
Can you show us a screenshot of your phone’s call log that would back that up? Why has no one person been able to show us something like that? Likewise I am told people are inundated with letters and postcards some of them worded rather menacingly to push them to sell their properties. Yet I’ve only actually seen somebody provide a postcard once and it wasn’t menacing at all. Likewise I have not seen any video from Seattle that shows people going door to door trying to get people to sell their homes. If people are inundated with calls, visits and mail there is no reason why we have not been able to see even one person produce evidence that this is happening in any way that could honestly be considered harassment. Why can’t one person show us their call log that shows all these hundreds of calls happening 4 to 5 times a day?
What reason would I have to lie… it wouldn’t benefit me at all. I used to throw them all in a drawer, used to have tons, but I finally tossed them in the recycling bin. Yeah, most were just cheesy form letters or post cards exclaiming ‘we buy houses for cash’, but a few were 100% trying to trick me into signing something.
I wish I had your luck, most unsolicited calls I get are just scams. Give them a price, make it unreasonably high. What are they going to do, say yes?
I’ve been Fed-x’d an actual contract, complete with little yellow sticky arrows indicating where to sign… fortunately I have all my marbles and wasn’t fooled into thinking this was something I’d already agreed to… it was super shady and should be totally illegal. And that was only the most egregious example. I used to get constant mail solicitations, phone calls and even real estate agents leaving stickies on my door proclaiming that they had a cash buyer who wanted my house immediately. It’s nuts. Believe it. It absolutely happens.
So if it happens why is nobody able to just take a picture of all that mail they got? Or a screenshot of their call log that shows how many times these folks called? Or numerous videos that show folks going up to their home asking them if they want to sell? It’s just really weird that these claims are made that they are being hounded 4 to 5 times a day and inundated with mail from these predatory buyers. But not one person has taken a picture to show how much mail or how many calls or how many visits they’ve gotten over say a year or two?
So you are saying that I’m lying then? Classy. Again why would I? What benefit would I gain? Everyone around this area knows it happens. I don’t have to convince any other homeowners because they’ve all gotten the same things….
FWIW I still get calls and mail occasionally, but not at the rate I did when I was saving the stuff… when it was pretty much daily. It’s been a good number of years since the people were targeting my house were so persistent. They appear to have mostly given up these days, probably because I have a small lot, not large enough to redevelop on its own, and they have little to no chance of getting the ones around me anymore.
Oh.. and a call log wouldn’t tell you anything.. all it would look like is a number from an unknown caller. If I could remember which now blocked call center number was the one soliciting to buy my house as opposed to the one begging donations, vs the one trying to sell me replacement windows or the one who wants me to pay my back taxes in iTunes cards, I’d be happy to show you… but it’s not like they come up as 1800- house stealing scam….
$370,000 a year to “protect vulnerable communities?” Isn’t this a not-so-subtle statement by the white saviors at city hall that communities of color, etc, are somehow inferior? Seems kind of Insulting. The ban applying city-wide makes sense as a way to rein in this annoyance. But couching it in these terms to justify it? Paternalistic.
1) This is totally unnecessary will create a public cost where none exists today (i.e., because City will now need to legally defend and/or act as witness for each citizen who gets solicited if on this list. Better to hire cops and fill potholes with that $ instead. 2) If the list actually worked, why wouldn’t all residents want to be on it to stop all of the SPAM, money-requesting, and otherwise pesky soliciting by mail, phone, cell, email, text, etc.?