District 5 · Council district dossier · 2003–2025
District 5: what the record shows
The story of District 5’s landlord-tenant record on the City of Seattle open data portal, written for the Councilmember and the public. It is built from the same numbers as the dashboard.
The short version
Fourth lowest of the seven districts for notices of violation.
District 5 has 7,232 landlord-tenant records for 2003–2025, 12.9% of the city’s 56,258. 5,141 are tenant complaints and 1,346 are notices of violation. For every 100 complaints there are 26.2 notices of violation, fourth lowest of the seven districts. The citywide figure is 24.6.
74.4% of District 5 complaints show no last inspection date, and 89.4% of those opened since 2018. A blank date does not mean no one inspected. The year-by-year section below explains why dates can be measured only from July 2025.
What changed in 2018
Complaints rose. Inspection dates stopped showing up. Notices per complaint fell.
The City of Seattle open data portal had no last inspection dates until July 2025. Until then that column held map coordinates, for example POINT (-122.33 47.60), instead of dates. In July 2025 the City backfilled it, including records back to 2003. Only then could these shares be measured, so the last inspection date line shows what the portal holds today for complaints opened each year. A blank date does not mean no one inspected. The last inspection date report tells that story.
Three measures, one chart
Landlord-tenant complaints, last inspection dates and notices of violation, open data portal
- Complaints opened that yearright-hand scale
- Last inspection date: out of every 100 complaints, how many have noneleft-hand scale
- Notices of violation for every 100 complaintsleft-hand scale
2003–2017 · 15 years
- 1,029
- complaints
- 14.4%
- with no inspection date (148)
- 813
- notices of violation, about 79 for every 100 complaints
2017 sits between the two periods: 144 complaints, 33% with no inspection date.
2018–2025 · 8 years
- 4,112
- complaints
- 89.4%
- with no inspection date (3,675)
- 533
- notices of violation, about 13 for every 100 complaints
Show the numbers for every year
| Year opened | Complaints | No inspection date | Percent | Notices of violation | Notices per 100 complaints |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 6 | 2 | 33.3% | 5 | 83.3 |
| 2004 | 47 | 20 | 42.6% | 38 | 80.9 |
| 2005 | 34 | 4 | 11.8% | 31 | 91.2 |
| 2006 | 76 | 15 | 19.7% | 63 | 82.9 |
| 2007 | 54 | 3 | 5.6% | 63 | 116.7 |
| 2008 | 55 | 5 | 9.1% | 46 | 83.6 |
| 2009 | 53 | 3 | 5.7% | 48 | 90.6 |
| 2010 | 54 | 2 | 3.7% | 46 | 85.2 |
| 2011 | 67 | 8 | 11.9% | 44 | 65.7 |
| 2012 | 63 | 4 | 6.3% | 46 | 73.0 |
| 2013 | 95 | 1 | 1.1% | 66 | 69.5 |
| 2014 | 94 | 19 | 20.2% | 71 | 75.5 |
| 2015 | 92 | 10 | 10.9% | 68 | 73.9 |
| 2016 | 95 | 4 | 4.2% | 90 | 94.7 |
| 2017 | 144 | 48 | 33.3% | 88 | 61.1 |
| 2018 | 335 | 266 | 79.4% | 50 | 14.9 |
| 2019 | 415 | 365 | 88.0% | 48 | 11.6 |
| 2020 | 328 | 307 | 93.6% | 59 | 18.0 |
| 2021 | 425 | 402 | 94.6% | 123 | 28.9 |
| 2022 | 673 | 614 | 91.2% | 118 | 17.5 |
| 2023 | 628 | 568 | 90.4% | 46 | 7.3 |
| 2024 | 621 | 531 | 85.5% | 50 | 8.1 |
| 2025 | 687 | 622 | 90.5% | 39 | 5.7 |
Source: City of Seattle open data portal, code complaints and violations. 7,232 landlord-tenant records in District 5, 2003–2025: 5,141 complaints, 1,346 notices of violation and 745 other records.
Show our work: Every record (CSV)Recount scriptHow we counted (printable)
What tenants reported
In their own words: mold, leaks, moisture lead the housing problems, and evictions and termination lead the paperwork.
We read the description of all 5,141 District 5 complaints and counted the problems each one names. A complaint is counted in every group it names, so the groups add up to more than the number of complaints. This shows what tenants reported, not that a problem was confirmed.
Housing conditions
- Fire, smoke/CO alarms, gas1512.9%
- Structural, doors, windows54310.6%
- Heat, hot water, utilities3597.0%
- Mold, leaks, moisture90417.6%
- Plumbing, sewage4138.0%
- Electrical2585.0%
- Pests3767.3%
- Other housing conditions77415.1%
Paperwork and landlord-tenant law
- 3-day notices721.4%
- Just cause eviction (JCEO)4989.7%
- Evictions and termination56110.9%
- Rent increases and fees4047.9%
- Deposits and refunds1863.6%
- Other notices (type not stated)1673.2%
- Lease terms and renewals2544.9%
- Other (retaliation, entry, relocation, lockouts)5039.8%
Other
- Other (noise, construction, public space)4859.4%
1,039 complaints (20.2%) are unassigned: no problem could be assigned from the words in the description. The City staff’s notes are not counted, except to find three-day notices and the JCEO label.
Show our work: Every complaint and its groups (CSV)The counting rules (script)Recount scriptHow we counted (printable)
Compared with the other districts
Notices of violation for every 100 complaints
District 5 had 26.2, fourth lowest of the seven districts. For the whole city it was 24.6.
| District | Complaints | Notices of violation | Notices per 100 complaints | No inspection date, all years | No inspection date, since 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District 1 | 5,136 | 1,621 | 31.6 | 72.0% | 89.5% |
| District 2 | 6,128 | 1,976 | 32.2 | 70.3% | 88.5% |
| District 3 | 8,309 | 1,707 | 20.5 | 76.5% | 90.1% |
| District 4 | 4,659 | 1,232 | 26.4 | 73.7% | 89.6% |
| District 5 | 5,141 | 1,346 | 26.2 | 74.4% | 89.4% |
| District 6 | 4,203 | 1,064 | 25.3 | 76.4% | 89.9% |
| District 7 | 6,419 | 946 | 14.7 | 78.7% | 89.1% |
Elevators
11 District 5 addresses show up three times.
STLCA matched three City sources by address: Seattle Fire Department elevator rescue calls, tenant complaints that mention an elevator, and the City’s elevator certificate list. 11 District 5 addresses appear in all three: 55 rescue calls, 34 tenant complaints that mention an elevator, and 9 addresses with no certified unit on file. A rescue call shows the Fire Department was sent, not why the elevator stopped. The certificate columns are a snapshot of the City’s elevator certificate list from January 31, 2026.
| Address | Rescue calls | Last rescue | Elevator complaints | Certified units on file | Units on file without a current certificate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14027 LAKE CITY WAY NE | 10 | 2025-11-26 | 1 | 7 | 1 |
| 3300 NE 125TH ST | 10 | 2025-02-15 | 12 | 0 | 2 |
| 525 NE NORTHGATE WAY | 9 | 2025-07-26 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 14200 LINDEN AVE N | 7 | 2025-07-16 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| 12317 15TH AVE NE | 6 | 2025-12-15 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 13280 LINDEN AVE N | 5 | 2024-11-19 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 10215 LAKE CITY WAY NE | 2 | 2023-11-02 | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| 507 NE NORTHGATE WAY | 2 | 2025-08-01 | 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 747 N 135TH ST | 2 | 2025-01-11 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 301 N 104TH ST | 1 | 2022-11-09 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 3032 NE 140TH ST | 1 | 2024-03-21 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Show our work: All 113 addresses (CSV)How we counted (printable)
Where the records are
Every District 5 complaint, on the map
The interactive maps place each complaint with a map point, colored by the problem it names. 100.0% of District 5’s records have a map point.