Statewide eviction moratorium bridge expires Sunday, no plans to extend

The statewide eviction bridge expires Sunday, Oct. 31, and Governor Inslee does not plan to extend it.

Mayor Durkan extends Seattle eviction moratorium into January 2022

The governor believes now that counties are getting rent relief money out to those who need it, it’s an appropriate time to end the eviction moratorium bridge.

“We’ve done about all we can do,” he said. “We’ve given them millions and millions of dollars of cash and it’s up to them to get it distributed. We have to have some end to the moratorium — you can’t have an economy, ultimately, where just nobody pays rent.”

King County distributed $8 million in rent relief just last week.

King County sending out millions in rental assistance, but may not have enough

Even though landlords will now be able to evict tenants outright for non-payment for rent, Gov. Inslee says there are still many steps to go through before that point, so he’s hopeful there won’t be a surge of evictions in the coming weeks.

He says the end of the bridge won’t lead to a flood of evictions because hundreds of millions of dollars in relief are available to tenants and landlords through their counties, along with mediation services.

“People, I don’t think, understand that there’s a huge process, even after the conclusion of the moratorium, that would be involved in the eviction process, including right of counsel,” he said. “So this is not going to happen on day one right after the moratorium expires.”

KIRO Radio reporter Nicole Jennings contributed to this report.