Do the Right Thing

Dear RHAWA members,

The manner in which we as housing providers manage this unprecedented crisis will dictate how the public will recognize us as partners in the future.

As professional property managers, we are proud of the contribution residential communities add to our residents' lives and society. From the beginning of this pandemic we’ve advocated for and pursued policies that permit residents to obtain rental assistance resources. We’ve created a dedicated web page which includes a resource guide and Q&A. We continue to add more resources regularly.

We’ve also supported voluntarily actions by rental communities to work with residents, such as:

• Waiving late fees
• Waiving month-to-month fees
• Engaging with residents and entering into written payment plans, and more.

These recommendations are in the best interest of the one million residents that call an apartment home and the six thousand plus individuals that choose property management as a career in our state.

All the while, we’ve been speaking with local, and state and federal leaders on methods to:

• Increase funding to rental assistance programs
• Permit mortgage forbearance for property owners, and more.

It may seem easy to enact regulatory policy like an eviction moratorium because it’s a sure way to protect the most vulnerable living in our community. What’s more difficult is securing and allocating sufficient emergency rental assistance funding to fill the gap.

We as an industry must remember to exercise compassion in this unprecedented time. As such, we are asking our members to work as partners with their residents, their community, and Washington to get through this unprecedented crisis. Now is not the time to devise ways around emergency laws, threaten eviction action for financial noncompliance, or other tactics that act as a detriment to the partnership we are creating with local state and community agencies.

Sincerely,

Kyle Woodring, Director of Government Affairs