(bright music) - Welcome to Crosscut Now.

In today's episode, federal dollars from Congress for one program to assist tenants have run out, contributing among many other factors to an uptick in Washington eviction filings.

We'll explore why some renters are in limbo.

We'll also look at why getting food on the table is hard for tens of thousands of families.

We'll learn just how great the need is in an affluent area of King County and one agency that's helping.

Plus indigenous youth are bringing the beauty of their culture to an area their ancestors were once spanned from.

We'll get into the full circle story.

I'm Paris Jackson.

In today's top story, eviction filings are up following the end of the Pandemic Rental Assistance Program.

We'll tell you what we've uncovered.

More Washington renters are facing evictions, a historic uptick, while the state is also dealing with the housing crisis.

There's a growing number of people at risk of losing their housing, like renter Solomon Quick and his wife.

In the past six months, eviction notices in Washington have nearly doubled.

In October, monthly filings peaked at just over 2,000, a rate that exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

Data suggests the state is on track to see more eviction filings this year than in 2019 when more than 15,000 were filed.

The sharp rise in filings comes after recent years of historic lows held off by a combination of unprecedented federal aid during the pandemic, temporary moratoriums on evictions and rent hikes, and legislative reforms.

This summer, the $45 billion package Congress doled out to local governments to assist tenants behind in rent during the pandemic ran out.

That money began being dispersed in 2020.

I sat down with Crosscut investigative reporter, Brandon Block, to learn how the elimination of federal help may have contributed to an unprecedented spike in Washingtonians on the brink of losing a roof over their heads.

Welcome, Brandon.

Thank you for joining us.

- Thanks for having me.

- In the last six months, eviction notices have nearly doubled in Washington.

What's led to the rise?

- So we're coming off a period of actually historically low evictions in Washington state.

Throughout the pandemic, there were numerous policies put into place, including the Governor Ansley's eviction moratorium, which was in place for over a year.

There was a ton of federal aid earmarked specifically for helping people pay their rent.

And there were numerous permanent legal changes to the eviction process.

Could be surprising in some sense what we've seen over the last six months where, as you mentioned, eviction rates have doubled, and actually last month, there are over 2,000, which is even higher than before the pandemic.

One of the big changes in the last six months is the end of that federal aid that I mentioned.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, there was close to $2 billion that was distributed from the federal government that made its way to Washington landlords, and that money dried up this past summer along with some of the temporary pandemic protections, notably the requirement that landlords engage in mediation before filing for eviction.

So those were the two big changes.

And then we're all just also looking at a rental market where rents have continued to increase over the past year or two.

- Through your reporting, you spoke with a lot of state lawmakers.

What are they saying about the recent spike in evictions?

- There's definitely serious concern.

Democratic lawmakers that I spoke with have told me they plan to reintroduce legislation to limit how much landlords can raise the rent by.

This is something that Democrats in Washington have proposed in past years and have introduced, hasn't really gone anywhere.

It's met pretty steep resistance from, obviously from Republicans, but also from some Democratic party, and obviously from landlord industry groups as well.

California and Oregon, both have, in recent years, passed limits on rent increases.

The policy, as it's been outlined, it wouldn't say that you can't raise the rent at all, but just that there's a maximum.

So whether that's 5%, 10%, 4% plus inflation, there's different ways that policy makers have approached it.

Democrats have signaled that that's gonna be a major priority going into this legislative session.

- Speaking of landlords, how are they pushing back?

- Yeah, landlord industry groups have definitely resisted previous attempts to introduce caps on rent increases.

There have also been numerous recent ballot initiatives, particularly the one in Tacoma that have tried to introduce different types of renter protections and limits on certain types of evictions.

And that has been something that landlord groups have pushed back against and spent against as well.

The group that I talked to, and this is a point that they've made numerous times, they would prefer to see more investments in rental subsidies versus limitations on what you can charge for rent.

You know, they'll argue that that distorts the market and has other negative consequences.

But yeah, they've definitely are not fans of the proposed legislation.

- And you've pointed out in your investigation that with these eviction processes, it's causing destabilization for tenants.

How so?

- The eviction legal process has changed a lot in the last couple of years.

Particularly, there have been some state laws that have changed the process that a landlord has to go through to evict a tenant.

And we have actually seen some pretty improved outcomes for tenants.

But that said, there are still consequences to having an eviction filing on your record.

Even if a judge ends up ruling in your favor, that information can then make its way to, future landlords might be able to see that, you've had an eviction filed against you, and that can make it harder to find housing in the future.

There are some ways that you can limit how that record gets out there.

For example, in the story that I wrote, I spoke to a tenant named Solomon Quick who is trying to move from an apartment building into a retirement community, but is currently facing eviction because he owes several months of back rent to his landlord.

And he had, it sounds like, been pretty close to securing an apartment in a retirement facility.

But then that seemed to fall through when they found out that he owed money to his current landlord.

So even if the judge rules in his favor or he's able to get the case dismissed, that's still impacting his ability to find future housing.

- Of course, this is a big issue that we're gonna keep on following.

I know you will as well.

Thank you for joining us, Brandon.

- Thanks for having me, it was a pleasure.

- If you would like to see Brandon's full investigative piece, just go to crosscut.com for more.

(bright music) For tens of thousands, putting food on the table among other necessities has become increasingly difficult.

In East King County, in addition to food, gas and housing costs are rising at a rate much higher than the rest of the state.

The east side of Washington's largest county, boast a reputation as a place with abundant tech money and mansions of software executives.

But juxtapose amongst the luxury are nearly 29,000 households without enough income to cover basic needs, according to the University of Washington Center for Women's Welfare.

Hopelink operates food bank serving Kirkland, Bellevue, Redmond, Carnation, and Shoreline.

Megan Altmore with Hopelink says it's common to find immigrants, refugees, and people of color living in crowded households on the east side to save money.

The agency says they serve a variety of ethnic communities.

Their Bellevue location sees a sizable Russian and Ukrainian population while Carnations serves a large Latino community.

(bright music) A group of indigenous youth performers can now claim a historic venue as their own.

Learn why the space represents a homecoming.

A homecoming is what a youth art organization is calling the historic new space they're reclaiming in a city where their ancestors more than a century ago were banned.

For three decades, Seattle-based nonprofit, Red Eagle soaring, known as RES, wanted to bring theater arts to native youth.

Red Eagle Soaring's executive director says it's ironic that the Native Youth Theater, the indigenous facing theater, is the one that's kind of been displaced in a city that prides itself on its artistic reputation.

A new interdisciplinary youth hub station space is now the permanent home for RES inside King Street Station, along with four other youth groups.

The historic train station sits on Duwamish land.

Before American settlers arrived, local tribes used to refer to what's now Pioneer Square as the little crossing over place.

In 1865, Seattle's First City Council banned Native Americans from entering the city.

The King Street Train station opened in 1906.

I'm Paris Jackson.

Thank you for watching Crosscut Now, your destination for nonprofit Northwest News.

Go crosscut.com for more.

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