As I mentioned in one of my posts about ESC, I think there should be a disclosure of any anticipated sewer connection charges that will need to be paid after the building is occupied. I also had a list of other potential charges that I’ve been collecting over time: “valet” trash pick up, mail/package delivery, utility usage for common areas, technology/connectivity fee, doorknob/lock operation fee, keyfob issuance and replacement fees, pet fees, payment portal fees, tenant portal fees, lease renewal fees, credit bureau reporting fee, lease name change fee, and the duration and cost of the utility connection fee.
When I first started working on this, AI was not a thing, so it’s nice that I was able to plug the list above into Claude, which produced this list:
Move-in / application related
- Application/screening fee
- Move-in administrative fee (separate from application fee)
- Holding fee/deposit to reserve a unit
- Security deposit, and if applicable, deposit-alternative or “surety bond”/deposit-waiver program fees (these are increasingly scrutinized separately)
Recurring monthly charges
- Amenity fee (pool, gym, clubhouse, business center, dog park)
- Resident benefits package fee (often bundles several smaller fees — worth breaking out what’s inside if you use one)
- Parking fee (surface, garage, or reserved spot)
- Storage unit/locker fee
- Trash/recycling fee (distinct from “valet” doorstep pickup)
- Water/sewer/stormwater fee, especially if billed via RUBS (ratio utility billing system) rather than metered
- Pest control fee
- Common area/community fee (landscaping, snow removal, security patrol)
- Insurance requirement — renters insurance mandate, or a liability insurance program fee if the landlord auto-enrolls tenants
- HVAC filter delivery fee (common bundled item)
- Cable/internet/smart-home technology bundle, if distinct from your general “technology/connectivity fee”
Move-out / lease-end related
- Move-out or turnover fee
- Cleaning fee (flat fee vs. deposit-deducted)
- Early lease termination/buyout fee
- Re-key fee at move-out (may overlap with your doorknob/lock fee, but often charged separately at turnover)
Payment-related
- Late payment fee
- NSF/returned payment fee
- Credit card convenience fee (if different from your general payment portal fee — some properties charge ACH free but a % fee for cards)
Other
- Guest fee/additional occupant fee
- EV charging fee
- Bike storage fee
- Gate/garage remote or mailbox key fee (adjacent to your keyfob fee)
- Attorney’s fees/court costs pass-through clause (if your lease allows charging these back to the tenant)
Claude also pointed out the question of whether this should include refundable deposits, which I think it should, since this is intended to help people determine if a particular housing opportunity is affordable to them. The form therefore includes a place to specify whether each item is a fee (non-refundable) or a deposit.
I made more changes and additions to these Claude suggestions (had to add back in some items from the list I provided initially that were left out) and you can see my proposed disclosure form at the bottom of this post.
It’s great to see that in Seattle, there’s a push to address rental ‘junk fees,’ and that they launched a stakeholder process earlier this year. There were even more good suggestions in the Reddit thread about that ST article: management fees, credit building, pet registration fee, credit card/debit card fee/ transaction fee check/money order/app, use of in-unit appliances, RUBS, and pet security deposit.
The existence of a form like this should make it easier to explain which items fall under the HB 1217 cap and 90 day notice requirements, since you’ll be able to just highlight the relevant line items. I also recognize that some items in the list may not be legal to collect fees for, but I think this is a nice place to document that there are no fees for that category, and it should make it easier to notice any discrepancies. I also suspect that there may be forthcoming changes either at the county or state level, and you wouldn’t want to have to update this form to match new rules every time. Ideally this will be used in other jurisdictions too, and it may help focus the policy conversation about what fees should be permissible.
Both the Seattle proposal and this one would require the up-front disclosure of all fees. There are two big differences between Mayor Wilson’s proposal and mine; the Seattle proposal would outlaw certain fees, rather than just making them transparent. I don’t believe we need to eliminate fees when some of the occupants are using more of a resource than others, but perhaps a bunch more people will get pets if it doesn’t change the rent they pay – would that make us a happier city, or would it be more annoying if your neighbors on all sides have animals? The other difference is that as a result of forbidding these existing fees, Seattle’s proposal might functionally lower rents for existing tenants who have pets or are subject to charges for mail or common areas (yes, it wouldn’t take effect until 2027, but the rent increase cap might limit how much the rent line item could be increased to compensate for the removal of these fees). Since this is a renter’s market, it may be one way to bring the total cost paid down to match fair market value. I think they are trying to avoid changing the rules after a lease has been signed, which is sensible unless there’s evidence that a certain category of surprise fees are being added in particularly unexpected ways, but I don’t think you’d need to wait a year for the new rules to take effect if the new requirement is just a disclosure for new and renewing leases. I certainly don’t want to send the message that Bellevue is a difficult place to operate a rental or that this is a place where the laws are constantly changing.
The next step would be to compare this list to existing leases for housing in Bellevue, and see whether it is comprehensive enough to include all things that would be listed in the lease or should have been included in a lease. If you have any time to help, I’d also appreciate feedback on whether the wording is clear and comprehensive enough,and help brainstorming the rules around its use. Should this disclosure be required for existing leases transitioning to month-to-month? Probably not. Should a completed form be required to be posted online when a rental price is advertised? Probably yes.
If you’re curious about the other threads I’ve seen with relevant comments, they’re here: one, two, three, four, five, six
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