Tacoma renters dealing with mold, illegal rent hikes, or uninhabitable conditions could see their landlords fined $500 to five times their monthly rent per violation.

Tacoma For All, the tenant advocacy group behind the 2023 Landlord Fairness Code, submitted more than 8,700 signatures to the Tacoma City Clerk on Wednesday, June 17, for the SAFE Homes For All initiative.

The group needed approximately 5,000 valid signatures to force a city council vote or place the measure on the ballot.

"What we have today is over 8,700 Tacoma residents who are making a simple demand: that the rights of tenants be respected, that landlords be held accountable and the city does their job to enforce the law," Tyron Moore, executive director of Tacoma For All, said at a news conference outside City Hall on June 17.

The core shift: city staff would investigate landlord violations and issue fines directly. Under the existing Landlord Fairness Code, which took effect in December 2023, tenants must sue landlords themselves to enforce protections. The city has no administrative enforcement authority.

Organizer Kiss'Shonna Curtis told KNKX in April that litigation is out of reach for most tenants who lack the time, energy, or money to take landlords to court.

SAFE Homes For All would also protect tenant unions by recognizing renters' right to organize, allowing meetings in building common areas, and requiring landlords to negotiate in good faith with majority unions.

A public database of landlord violations would be created, and enforcement would be funded through a new per-unit rental registry fee on landlords.

Sean Flynn, president of the Rental Housing Association of Washington, told KNKX in April that the added liability and fees would drive landlords out of Tacoma.

A February 2026 RHAWA survey of its members, a self-selected sample, found that 32% of respondents who sold rental properties in 2025 said those units were removed from the rental market, up from 17% in 2024.

The Pierce County Auditor's office will verify the petition signatures. The Tacoma City Council then has the option to adopt the measure outright. If the council does not act, the initiative goes to voters in the next election held at least 90 days after validation.

Moore said he expects the process to be completed in time for the November 2026 ballot.

The City Council's Community Vitality and Safety Committee is scheduled to review compliance and enforcement of the existing Rental Housing Code and Landlord Fairness Code on June 25 (agenda item 26-0463).

That briefing is not a vote on SAFE Homes For All but covers the same enforcement landscape the initiative seeks to change.

Residents can track the initiative's progress through the Pierce County Auditor's office and submit public comment to the Community Vitality and Safety Committee through the city's Legistar portal.