![\"move-in-fees-compressed\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/move-in-fees-compressed.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: <\/span>2namod\/Flickr<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The Rental Housing Association of Washington (RHAWA) is suing the City of Seattle over a new law that limits how much a property owner can charge in move-in fees.<\/p>\n Before the ordinance went into effect in January, renters often paid several thousand dollars just to sign a lease, between first and last month\u2019s rent, the security deposit, pet deposit, background check and other fees. Under the new law, Seattle landlords can charge no more than the first month\u2019s rent for a security deposit and move-in fees.<\/p>\n The law was intended to bring relief to tenants already struggling to find housing in an increasingly expensive rental market. Rents citywide have increased more than 40 percent in the last five years. Rent control is illegal in Washington, and the ordinance was seen by many city council members as the next best thing, reports the <\/span>Seattle Times<\/span><\/a>. \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But RHAWA claims that the ordinance violates the state ban on rent control and takes away people\u2019s property rights. Sean Flynn, the rental-housing association\u2019s president, told the Seattle Times that the laws probably don\u2019t affect huge property owners who have thousands of units. But smaller landlords can’t afford to take on the extra risk that comes with restrictions on charging the fees that they feel are appropriate for their renters. Many end up selling.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mom and pops are scared. It\u2019s created havoc,\u201d Flynn told the Seattle Times. \u201cWe provide homes for working-class people, and unfortunately this ordinance falls really hard on our membership. It shifts a whole lot of risk back on the landlord and doesn\u2019t allow them to have anything in reserves.\u201d<\/p>\n Flynn asserts that when landlords put their properties on the market, developers move in and turn the property into expensive condos or townhomes, which can’t provide the kind of affordable housing Seattle so desperately needs.<\/p>\n