WATCH: Spokane council approves tenant protections over concerns about impact

The useful part

The legislation was sponsored by Council Members Kitty Klitzke, Sarah Dixit and Paul Dillon. While prompted by the fires, the ordinance also creates a framework for similar protections during future natural disasters and public health emergencies. Cathcart said one concern involved the self-certification process tenants would use to qualify for the protections.

How it works

• Under the ordinance, tenants must self-certify that they lost at least 10% of their average monthly household income and that the emergency or disaster made their business or workplace uninhabitable,...
• "There's a number of aspects to the proposed ordinance that really give me a lot of heartburn," Cathcart said.
• "A lot of that has to do with the self-certification and that whole process that goes along with it, trying to make sure that we don't basically get into a situation where landlords are having to dea...

Details worth keeping

The ordinance passed 5-2 Wednesday and provides qualifying, income-eligible tenants with a temporary affirmative defense against eviction for nonpayment of rent if they suffered financial hardship directly related to the Spokane Complex Fires.