What Motel 6 closures mean for those who call the motels home
Mar 21, 2020, 12:36 PM
For Rebecca Lounsbury, her husband, and her mother-in-law, Motel 6 is more than just an affordable place to stay while on vacation — to them, it’s home.
Lounsbury and her family moved into the motel nearly a year ago, following a run of bad luck. A couple of layoffs meant they could no longer afford their old apartment, so they were forced to break the lease. This damaged their credit and put a black mark on their rental history, Lounsbury said.
“Unfortunately, most complexes look at that no differently than they look at an eviction,” she explained. “And it counts severely against you.”
Unable to find a landlord who would rent to them, a Mountlake Terrace Motel 6 presented an affordable solution. For 10 months, it has given them a new place to feel secure while they get their lives back in order.
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But all that changed a few days ago, when Lounsbury went down to the front desk to pay the usual two-week room installment.
“I was informed that when our booking runs out on Monday — which was the last day we had paid until — we were being asked to leave,” she said.
A Motel 6 spokesperson said several locations in Washington have closed “due to the ongoing public health crisis.”
The sudden news that they have to find another place to live could not have come at a worse time. Lounsbury’s husband has been able to work from home during the coronavirus pandemic, but she is in retail and was laid off when the mall she worked at shut down. Both Lounsbury and her mother-in-law are disabled.
Where will they go next?
“We’re not sure, right now,” Lounsbury said.
And it’s not just them — she said many other people at the motel are there on a permanent basis.
“There are probably 15 or 20 cars — and all of them have been there as long as us, if not longer,” she said.
Gov. Jay Inslee just enacted an eviction moratorium due to the crisis, but that applies to rentals, not to hotels or motels.
Lounsbury knows exactly what she would say to Inslee, given the chance.
“Not having any protection for those who are what’s considered ‘housed homeless’ — we’re out here, too, and we’re about to be part of your actual homeless population. We need your help.”
Inslee’s office has not yet responded to a request for comment.
