What happened, and when?
Response dates, inspections where applicable, enforcement, correction deadlines, follow-up, and closure.
Start here · STLCA’s request to Seattle
Show what happens
after a tenant asks for help.
STLCA asked the City to make housing enforcement measurable: document the response, explain how a case ends, and make the outcome visible to the public.
01 · What STLCA asked the City to show
A complaint count
is only the beginning.
The proposed SLI asks Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections (SDCI) for the information needed to follow housing-enforcement work from intake to outcome.
Why did the case end?
A clear explanation of the outcome, including whether correction was verified.
Can related records be followed?
Links among complaints, violation notices, citations, emergency orders, relocation, and rental registration.
What was assessed and collected?
Separate potential penalties from amounts billed, paid, adjusted, waived, or still outstanding.
What do the fields mean?
Clear definitions, source systems, responsibilities, quality checks, and a history of changes.
How do the programs connect?
Explain how complaint enforcement relates to rental registration and the RRIO inspection program.
02 · Why the record matters
Can the public follow
the whole case?
An inspection date, a case status, and a verified repair answer different questions. The underlying history is needed to understand what happened.
STLCA’s research brings complaint descriptions, inspection fields, enforcement records, and recorded outcomes into view. The maps connect reported concerns to a place.
What was reported?
What did the City do?
How did it end?
A missing public inspection date does not prove no inspection occurred. A Closed or Completed label alone does not establish correction.
03 · Where the initiative fits
Make the work visible.
Build independence into enforcement.
The SLI request focuses on how the City documents and reports its work. The initiative proposes a structural change: moving specified rental-housing and renter-protection duties out of SDCI and into a separate public authority.
The SLI request
Clear reporting from the City.
Case histories, closure reasons, connected records, financial outcomes, and public-data definitions.
Read the request →The initiative proposal
A dedicated, independent authority.
Separate leadership, housing inspectors, renter-protection enforcement, review routes, and public records.
Explore the initiative →Both are proposals. The SLI seeks Council reporting requirements. The initiative’s final legal text and qualification requirements remain to be resolved.
Help shape what comes next
Bring the experience
the law needs to reflect.
Tenants, community organizations, access advocates, legal reviewers, records specialists, and organizers can help test how the proposed authority would work.
Get involved →Understand the request.
Read the record.
Help shape the proposal.