Opinion: Homeowner lives in a car while squatter rents his house as an Airbnb

Jason Roth, who lives in Rainier Valley, is an example of how overly aggressive rental laws are destroying the housing rental market and raising rents.

The renter in Jason Roth’s home was renting, until recently, the downstairs of his home as an Airbnb based on falsified home ownership records

Mark Harmsworth
Washington Policy Center

KIRO 7 news is reporting that a homeowner who rented his home to a deadbeat renter is living in his car as he can’t afford to rent a home for himself and maintain his own home.

Jason Roth, who lives in Rainier Valley, is an example of how overly aggressive rental laws are destroying the housing rental market and raising rents.

The renter in Jason’s home was renting, until recently, the downstairs of his home as an Airbnb based on falsified home ownership records according to the City of Seattle. In the meantime, the lawful owner of the home lives in a car, while the renter pays no rent. Estimates are that the illegal Airbnb generated an income of between $2,000 and $4,000 a month.

Thankfully, Airbnb pulled the listing after a local radio station highlighted Jason’s predicament, but King County is continuing to drag its feet on the eviction hearing date. State law (RCW 59.18.370) states that the hearing has to be within 30 days, clearly in the case for Mr. Roth, this is not happening.

There are other stories across the King County of eviction hearing taking an inordinate amount of time.

The eviction process in King County can take several months, mostly due to delays in court hearings and understaffing issues. With recent eviction moratoriums, eviction can take even longer. An unscrupulous renter can get access to a property (typically first and last months rent) and then not pay rent for prolonged amount of time year before they face eviction.

The Washington Business Properties Association (WBPA) is reporting that Mr. Roths case has now been delayed to March 2024 and is demanding King County follows Washington State law. Specifically,

That King County Courts follow the law and prioritize unlawful detainer suits over all other civil actions;
That the King County Sheriff assigns enough deputies to timely execute writs; and
That the Legislature investigate abuses of the judicial system by taxpayer-funded attorneys.

“Every other county in Washington state is following the law and getting these cases resolved in a timely manner,” said William Shadbolt, Managing Director of the WBPA. “Why is King County refusing to do so?

Based on the new court date, Mr. Roth has at least another 5 months of living in his car and 5 more months of paying his mortage on a house he can’t live in.

Making things worse for property owners statewide, are the proposed draconian restrictions on background checks, similar to the law overturned this year in Seattle, that prevent property owners from checking on the rental history of a tenant prior to giving them the keys to the property.

The legislature needs to add provisions to RCW 59.18.370 that will issue a writ automatically should a county fail to process the hearing in a timely manner, according to state law. King County specifically, needs to follow state law before a property owner sues for relief, costing the taxpayers of the county more tax dollars.

Will Mr. Roth rent his house again after this experience is yet to be seen, though it’s unlikely. This would take another rental property off the market, increasing rental costs and decreasing supply.

Mark Harmsworth is the director of the Small Business Center at the Washington Policy Center.