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In Tacoma voters will decide in November if they want to strengthen renter protections and formally enshrine the right for renters to form unions.

Cascade PBS and KNKX reporter Nate Sanford has more.

SANFORD (VO): Tacoma voters passed a slate of tenant protections in 2023, but housing activists say enforcement of those protections has been lacking.

If a renter feels their landlord hasn't complied, their only current option is to take them to court.

MOORE: And a story we hear again and again, especially in some of these out of town corporate complexes, is that tenants are routinely faced with illegal rent hikes, illegal fees, lack of proper notice for rent increases and unsafe conditions.

VO: Tyron Moore is the director of Tacoma for All, the community group behind the new Safe Homes for All initiative.

The proposal would make the city responsible for going after non-compliant landlords.

Enforcement would be funded with a new rental registry fee.

The initiative would also create new protections for people who want to form tenant unions.

Eight apartment complexes in Tacoma have voted to form tenant unions over the past year, but the landlords for those buildings have refused to meet with the unions.

The ballot initiative would force them to come to the table.

MOORE: What this initiative will do is say, hey if you're a majority tenant union, then you have a right to negotiate with your landlord.

The landlord has to sit down and negotiate in good faith.

VO: The initiative has been met with opposition from some landlord groups.

They argue that the added fees and regulations will drive small landlords out of business, and ultimately make housing less affordable.

I'm Nate Sanford, Cascade PBS.

JACKSON: Next time, find out why some homeowners in Pierce County are skipping the mower and instead using four-legged helpers.

I'm Paris Jackson.

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