In Tacoma, we stand up for our neighbors. We believe everyone deserves a safe, stable, and affordable home. That’s why Tacomans led the state by passing the Tenant Bill of Rights in 2023.
Yet today, thousands of Tacoma families continue to face slumlord conditions while corporate landlords violate our rights with impunity because the City refuses to enforce the law.
Through our work canvassing thousands of neighbors across the city, Tacoma for All has seen a troubling pattern emerge: while many tenants face systemic violations—from illegal rent hikes to hazardous mold—most remain silent.
Tenants fear landlord retaliation and have lost confidence in an enforcement system that feels fundamentally broken.The evidence of this breakdown is clear: Since July 2023, when City Council updated its enforcement program, just a single fine has been issued against a single landlord.
This policy failure gives lawbreakers a green light, sending a clear message that there are no consequences for violating tenant rights.
Our city’s dedicated staff are doing their best, but City Council has tied their hands by underfunding enforcement and mandating staff “attempt to settle" rather than hold slumlords accountable. Even when City Council revisited these protections last December, they chose to roll back voter-approved rights rather than fix the enforcement gap.
The landlord lobby remains a powerful force in City Hall, but they do not have the final say. The SAFE Homes for All Initiative is our movement’s response. By moving toward a model of consistent accountability and giving tenant unions real legal leverage, we are putting renters back in the driver’s seat.
Crucially, this initiative ensures that the cost of justice isn't a burden for the public: the program will be paid for by fees on repeat offenders and big corporate landlords—not taxpayers. It is time to ensure our laws are more than just words on a page.
2. Transparency & Education
Proactive Education: The initiative funds training for both landlords and tenants, with special support for small landlords to ensure they have the tools to stay in compliance.
Public Data System: The City will establish a searchable database of landlords with all evictions, violations, and rent increases so that policy makers and tenants can make informed decisions.
1. Tenant Union Rights
Our movement is already winning, with a growing number of tenant unions now active in Tacoma. However, tenant organizers face retaliation and landlords who refuse to even meet with them. This initiative provides the legal tools to end that stonewalling:
The Right to Organize: Formally protects the right of neighbors to form unions, meet in common areas, and distribute information without fear of retaliation.
Mandated Good-Faith Bargaining: Once a union represents 50% of occupied units, landlords are legally required to meet with tenants (4x a year) and bargain in good faith over lease agreements and living conditions.
3. Accountability & Deterrence
We are replacing a system that ties the hands of City enforcement staff with one focused on standardizing enforcement, holding lawbreakers accountable, and making tenants whole.
Ending Mandated Mediation: Even for the limited protections the City does formally enforce, the current Rental Housing Code mandates that staff "shall attempt to settle by agreement any alleged violation." This focus on settlement over accountability has resulted in just one fine issued to one landlord since July 2023.
Creating a Real Deterrent: Currently, when a landlord only complies after being "asked," there is no deterrent against future violations and no restitution for the tenant. SAFE Homes for All mandates investigations and fines for confirmed violations—ranging from $500 to five times the monthly rent—which are transferred directly to the impacted tenants.
4. The "Repeat Offender" Funding Model
This initiative ensures that large-scale slumlords—not Tacoma taxpayers—pay the lion's share of enforcement costs.
Cost-Recovery Fees on Repeat Offenders: Landlords with 6 or more violations within 36 months will pay cost-recovery fees when found in violation. Small landlords will rarely cross this threshold, ensuring that large, lawless operations pay for the enforcement program.
Tiered Licensing Fee: A per-unit license fee will fund remaining enforcement costs. Fees are also tiered so that repeat offenders and large corporate landlords pay more to cover the enforcement burden they create