Housing
Justice

Poverty in America is a lucrative business. Landlords and investors extract an obscene amount of money from our housing - we can’t take it anymore.

Housing is a universal necessity - without stable and secure housing, every other facet of life is thrown into turmoil. To be successful in any of our other work, housing must be a priority to our organization and the members that move us forward. WashingtonCAN and our coalition partners in Housing Justice are working to address the housing crisis at scale.

 

Initiative 137

In 2023, we established the Seattle Social Housing Developer through Initiative 135. Now it’s time to fund I-135.

Initiative 137 will create a dedicated revenue stream for social housing in Seattle. This revenue stream can then be bonded on to accelerate production of social housing.

Employers who purchase the labor of highly compensated workers above a $1 million in total compensation will pay a 5% marginal tax. Employers pay the social housing payroll tax, not employees.

Housing Survey

When we offer expansive community surveys, we do more than try to get to the core of the issue, we often identify many other barriers that contribute to systemic failures.

We want to hear from you! We’d also appreciate you sharing the survey with those that you care about being heard and represented as well!

We are working to address the housing crisis at scale, and it will take understanding the many angles to the housing crisis to achieve this goal.

 

do you know about the ban on rent control in washington?

Stories from The Community

Grassroots Achievements

Kate Rubin, Co-Executive Director of Be:Seattle, a Housing Justice coalition partner canvassing for Initiative 135.

2023

WashingtonCAN successfully passed Social Housing Initiative 135. This victory set up a public housing developer to provide housing options for low and middle income people in Seattle.

Federal Way families organizing for the Stable Homes Initiative. “No mas alta la renta, y necesitamos mas ayuda para la renta.” translates to “No more raising the rent, we need more help with the rent.”

2019

Helped change the “pay or vacate” period from 3 to 14 days, and forced landlords to present just cause for evictions statewide.
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Designed, qualified, and won the Stable Homes initiative in Federal Way that protects renters from unjust evictions. 

WashingtonCAN members organize for tenant rights to prioritize housing as a right and not just a profit machine.

2016

Led the fight to pass move-in fee legislation in Seattle to curb prohibitive rental fees. The legislation capped the move-in costs landlords charge tenants and required landlords to accept payment plans for these costs.

Sarah Leon
Housing Organizer

We focus on public policy; for direct services, call 211 or utilize this guide.