Seattle council to vote on moratorium on 'rent bidding'

SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council might put a stop to a practice that threatens to drive up the high cost of rent even more.

The practice is known as rent bidding. It’s a fairly new practice where landlords post an apartment and then prospective tenants then bid to win a lease.

Overnight, KIRO 7 reporter Graham Johnson looked and found a few apartments in Seattle listed on rent bidding websites. Landlords post a suggested rent and encourage people to bid.

Rent bidding is not a widespread practice in Seattle now, but if it takes off, members of the City Council fears it could make rents even more expensive in Seattle.

A one-year moratorium on rent bidding passed a city council committee. The full council will decide whether to approve the moratorium Monday at 2 p.m.

A summary of the bill also requests there be a study of rental housing bidding platforms because landlords and tenants using the platforms could potentially be in violation of the city’s fair housing and rental regulations.

The study would also look at the platforms’ impact on the housing market.

Cox Media Group