Appearing in The Seattle Times on August 27, 2026, Jessica Fu talks to Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at NCLC about how tenants across Washington state say that they face an increasingly confounding landscape of rental charges: amenity fees to access common areas, mailroom fees to receive packages, technology fees for app-enabled door locks and even building-wide utility fees to keep the lights on in the hallways and leasing offices.
In Seattle, the issue took center stage this month when the City Council voted unanimously to ban most rental fees — a shot across the bow to the rental housing industry. The ordinance prohibits almost all types of mandatory fees and includes enforcement measures.
Seattle isn’t alone; other cities in Washington with similar restrictions include Bellingham and Olympia.
“There are various municipal ordinances, and Seattle’s is definitely one of the strongest,” said Ariel Nelson, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, which advocates for fee bans.
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