Seattle Anti-Landlord Measure Takes Tyranny to Surreal Extremes

Leftists have always had a particular hatred of landlords, probably based on their feeling that housing should be provided free of charge. So it is no surprise that when it comes to leftist tyranny, abuse of landlords is at the cutting edge:

With a heavy-handed new law that is the first of its kind in the nation, Seattle has set its regulatory crosshairs on landlords, attempting to police their inner thoughts and eliminate the possibility that their decisions could be motivated by “implicit” or unintended bias.

Known as the “first in time” rule, the mandate forces landlords to rent to the first qualified applicant, rather than choosing the best fit from among prospective tenants.

Sponsors contended that this unprecedented restriction is needed because traditional anti-discrimination laws do not protect against unconscious prejudices. Landlords, it was alleged, can’t be trusted to make decisions based on their “gut instincts,” because there’s no way to know whether those instincts are “pure.” The only solution is to take away their right to make discretionary decisions altogether…

Not even a liberal could conceive of repression more totalitarian than violating property rights so as to police not only thoughts but even the unconscious.

The deck is already stacked against landlords. They can easily be ruined by one bad tenant who refuses to pay rent, cannot be evicted without an extended and expensive legal battle, and then pours concrete down the toilet before finally leaving. Making their lives still more miserable in the name of political correctness won’t make decent housing any easier to come by.

On a tip from R F.