Heidi Groover

WA tenants facing eviction are supposed to have the right to an attorney. Instead, this is what many cases in King County look like as legal aid groups struggle to keep up with a soaring number of evictions.
www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

D.C. Correspondent - The Seattle Times - Career Page We’re seeking a a D.C.-based correspondent to uncover how federal power touches lives in the Pacific Northwest!

Extremely cool opportunity: The Seattle Times is hiring a DC correspondent. Rare these days for a local paper. seattletimes.applytojob.com/apply/oVo010...

King County Assessor John Wilson arrested in stalking investigation Wilson, who has been in elected office for a decade and is a candidate for King County executive, was booked into the King County Correctional Facility Wednesday, according to records.

Wilson, who has been in elected office for a decade and is a candidate for King County executive, was booked into the King County Correctional Facility Wednesday, according to records.

Business Reporter, Real Estate (Temporary) - The Seattle Times - Career Page We are seeking a driven reporter to temporarily cover real estate business reporting!

Looking for a temporary journalism gig in Seattle? We're hiring a housing/real estate reporter to fill in while I'm at a fellowship, roughly August-May. Details here and my DMs are open! seattletimes.applytojob.com/apply/rPnhnC...

As of now it would: Repeal the city's roommate ordinance and restrict the winter eviction moratorium to people who had an unexpected loss of income. Moore wanted a roll back of the city's law mandating landlord offer new leases to current tenants, but the Housing Consortium opposed.

Changes to Seattle’s renter laws likely to be proposed Councilmember Cathy Moore’s announcement earlier this week that she would step down from her position seemingly threw into question that effort’s future.

Though Cathy Moore is leaving, the long-discussed landlord-tenant legislation she was drafting might still be on the table. In fact, the bill had already shifted away from her and toward CM Solomon -- who is no longer a landlord -- and the mayor's office.
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

‘Another layer of cruelty’: WA immigrant communities shaken by Trump travel ban The Seattle region has large numbers of people from several of the countries named in the ban, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Eritrea and Iran.

Trump’s travel ban shakes up WA immigrant communities www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

The current monthly mortgage payment for a mid-tier home (per Zillow) with 20% down. And this is by metro area, so it assumes a home price lower than you'll ever find in Seattle proper. RIP San Jose.

Commerce announces 10% rent cap for the rest of 2025 Calendar year 2026 rent cap information will be available in July OLYMPIA, Wash. — As required by Chapter 209, Laws of 2025 (Engrossed House Bill 1217), the Department of Commerce published a maximum annual rent increase percentage allowed on the Department’s website at the Landlord Resource Center. The maximum annual rent increase percentage allowed through Dec. 31, 2025: 10% The maximum annual rent increase percentage allowed for calendar year 2026 will be published shortly after release of June 2025 data by the federal U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This is expected in July 2025.

WA gets its official rent increase cap for the rest of this year: 10%. This applies to you unless your rental was built in the last 12 years, is subsidized, or in certain cases where your landlord lives on site.

Best neighborhood, sorry to the rest!!!!

Assessing the pros and cons of WA’s new rent hike cap A new state law caps increases in rent for many tenants across Washington. As tenants welcome new stability, landlords worry more regulations could be on the way.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I really don’t. Live in my car.”
Some tenants welcome WA’s new cap on rent hikes. Others fear it’s too little too late.
www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

"Journalists, on the other hand, are obligated to point out everything that sucks, no matter what. This is why journalists are unpopular. Along with their personalities."

Who's got ideas for the Bastyr campus? www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

The private home listings most buyers aren’t seeing The debate about private home posts highlights fault lines about the role of listing services, the interests of buyers versus sellers and questions of fundamental fairness.

Should real estate agents be able to list homes that not everyone can easily see? Seller choice or fair housing nightmare? Inside Seattle real estate's current beef: www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

I'm so excited and honored to be part of this group (!!!!!) and learn in new ways (fun) about our broken housing market (depressing). Send me your best Ann Arbor recs!

Want to sue your landlord? Seattle-area tenants ran into a roadblock Some of the country's biggest landlords make renters waive their right to join class-action lawsuits, but it may take a test case to see if those waivers can be enforced.

Also -- SB 5313 preventing your landlord from making you waive your right to participate a class action lawsuit. I reported here on how those waivers have become more common in leases from the biggest landlords (who also face allegations of price-fixing):
www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

Gov. Ferguson signs slate of 10 new WA housing bills into law Easily the most contested housing bill of the session, House Bill 1217 limits the amount a landlord can raise rent on tenants in a yearly period.

Gov. Ferguson signs:
-cap on rent hikes
-parking reform
-condo law changes
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

White House blasts Seattle housing program as ‘woke,’ pitches budget cuts President Donald Trump's 2026 budget proposal would slash funding for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing cuts to key programs in WA.

Trump's war on woke comes for Seattle housing programs www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

ICYMI, @ryanjhaas.bsky.social and I made a podcast last year about Jesse Johnson, who spent 17 years on Oregon's death row. It's a shocking case. Perhaps what's even more shocking is that a show about this level of injustice could be lost in our news cycle. So, this award feels nice.

Congrats! Looking forward to reading!

WA bill to cap rent hikes clears both chambers, heads to governor OLYMPIA — Democratic lawmakers passed a compromise version of a bill to cap yearly rent increases Sunday, the final day of the state's 2025 legislative session.  The latest version of House Bill 1217,...

After years of tenant advocates pushing for rent-hike limits in WA, lawmakers just passed a bill to cap many rent increases at 7% + inflation or 10%, whichever is less. Now the question is, will Gov. Ferguson sign it? via @ssowersby.bsky.social
www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Daniel Bice Daniel Bice is a columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Watchdog team.

Shoutout to Daniel Bice of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, who’s been on the Judge Dugan story all week. You can catch up on his coverage here www.jsonline.com/staff/264800...

Pike Place Market banning most vehicle traffic in test run Regular traffic on Pike Place will be cut off, with certain exceptions. The goal of restricting cars is to improve Market access and safety for pedestrians.

Pike Place Market, the Seattle icon and tourist draw, is going (partially) car free beginning tomorrow.

www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news...

Blazing Eye Sees All: Love Has Won, False Prophets, and the Fever Dream of the American New Age by Leah Sottile Journalist Sottile (When the Moon Turns to Blood) offers an ambitious study of Love Has Won, a spiritual group and alleged cult....

“Leaving no crystal unturned, Sottile unearths intriguing similarities across disparate fringe groups (near-constant antisemitism, frequent female leadership) that bolster her thesis that cults are a feature, not a bug, of American spiritual life.”

www.publishersweekly.com/9781538742600

If you care about Snohomish County/WA state journalism, tell the new owners not to gut the quality of our news.

Email them at: letters@heraldnet.com

Everett Herald Journalists Denounce Bosses' Proposal to Tie Their Wages to Grueling Story Quotas | My Everett News According to the Everett NewsGuild, the new owners of the Daily Herald in Everett, WA want to inflict financial punishment on the paper’s unionized

“‘This would essentially spam the front page of the Herald website with worthless content while good stories go untold,’ said Jordan Hansen, a Herald reporter and Everett NewsGuild member.” myeverettnews.com/2024/12/06/e...

He never planned to stay long in his studio apartment. But now it’s been 18 years Seattle-area renters normally move before hitting the five-year mark, but more and more are staying longer.

In a housing market this expensive, sometimes you end up staying put wayyyy longer than you expected (she typed from the studio apartment where she has lived for a decade). www.seattletimes.com/business/rea...

Thank you so much for your support!

Stand with Daily Herald journalists I just sent a letter in support of the journalists at the Daily Herald in Everett. They need our help in their fight for a fair contract. Can you join me? These journalists work tirelessly every day ...

These union members are demanding better, but they need your help. Use this form to send an email to Herald management letting them know journalists—and readers—deserve a fair contract: actionnetwork.org/letters/stan...