Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 1 of 11 The Honorable John C. Coughenour 1 2 3 4 5 6 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON AT SEATTLE 7 8 9 11 CHONG and MARILYN YIM, KELLY LYLES, EILEEN, LLC, and RENTAL HOUSING ASSOCIATION OF WASHINGTON, 12 Plaintiffs, 10 2:18-cv-736-JCC CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF vs. 13 14 No. THE CITY OF SEATTLE, a Washington Municipal Corporation, 15 Defendant. 16 The City of Seattle, the sole Defendant, answers each of the numbered paragraphs of 17 18 Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (the “Complaint,” Dkt. 1-1) as follows: I. 19 INTRODUCTION 20 1. Paragraph 1 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 21 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 22 DENIES those allegations. 23 2. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the screening CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 1 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 2 of 11 1 practices of residential landlords, or about the incident in Illinois described in paragraph 2 of the 2 Complaint, and therefore DENIES those allegations. The remainder of paragraph 2 states only legal 3 conclusions to which no answer is required. To the extent that it contains allegations within the 4 meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 5 3. 6 purposes for which Ordinance 125393 was enacted and DENIES any other allegation inherent in 7 those allegations. To the extent that paragraph 3 characterizes Ordinance 125393, the ordinance 8 speaks for itself, and the City DENIES those characterizations. 9 4. The City ADMITS that the purposes listed in paragraph 3 of the Complaint are among the To the extent that paragraph 4 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 10 125393, the City DENIES those characterizations, because the ordinance speaks for itself. To the 11 extent that it states legal conclusions, no answer is required. To the extent that paragraph 4 contains 12 allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 13 5. 14 ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 5 15 contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES them. 16 6. 17 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 18 DENIES those allegations. Paragraph 5 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because the Paragraph 6 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. II. 19 PARTIES 20 7. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the factual 21 allegations related to the “plaintiff landlords” in paragraph 7 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES 22 those allegations. The remainder of the paragraph states only legal conclusions to which no answer 23 is required. CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 2 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 3 of 11 1 8. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in 2 paragraph 8 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 3 9. 4 that it is “chartered by the State of Washington” as alleged in paragraph 9 of the Complaint. The City ADMITS that it is a Washington municipality located in King County; it DENIES III. 5 JURISDICTION AND VENUE 6 10. Paragraph 10 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 7 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 8 DENIES those allegations. 9 11. Paragraph 11 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 10 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 11 DENIES those allegations. 12 12. 13 paragraph 12 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. The City ADMITS that it is located within the limits of King County. The remainder of IV. 14 FACTUAL BACKGROUND 15 13. The City ADMITS that the City Council passed Council Bill 119015 on August 14, 2017, and 16 that the Mayor signed it (as Ordinance 125393) on August 23, 2017. The remainder of paragraph 13 17 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because the ordinance speaks 18 for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 19 14. 20 125393. Because the recitals of the ordinance speak for themselves, and the City DENIES those 21 characterizations. 22 15. 23 of Ordinance 125393 or documents cited in those recitals, the recitals and documents speak for Paragraph 14 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of the recitals of Ordinance To the extent that paragraph 15 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of the recitals CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 3 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 4 of 11 1 themselves, and the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 15 contains 2 allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 3 16. 4 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 5 17. 6 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 7 18. 8 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 9 19. Paragraph 16 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 17 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 18 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 19 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because 10 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 11 20. 12 125393, the ordinance speaks for itself, and the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent 13 that paragraph 20 contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 14 DENIES those allegations. 15 21. 16 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 17 22. 18 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 19 23. 20 beginning of paragraph 23 of the Complaint. The remainder of paragraph 23 consists of 21 characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES 22 those characterizations. 23 24. To the extent that paragraph 20 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance Paragraph 21 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 22 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because The City DENIES any allegation implicit in the description of what the “City claims” at the Paragraph 24 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 4 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 5 of 11 1 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 2 25. 3 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 4 26. 5 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 6 27. 7 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 8 28. 9 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. Paragraph 25 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 26 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 27 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 28 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about what “City 10 29. 11 Councilmembers recognized” in enacting Ordinance 125393, and therefore DENIES those 12 allegations of paragraph 29 of the Complaint. The remainder of the paragraph characterizes portions 13 of the Washington Residential Landlord Tenant Act, RCW Ch. 59.18. Because that statute speaks for 14 itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. 15 30. 16 allegations related to Plaintiffs’ access to “valuable information” or the increased risk described in 17 paragraph 30 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES those allegations. The remainder of the 18 paragraph states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 19 31. 20 paragraph 31 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 21 32. 22 paragraph 32 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 23 33. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the factual The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 5 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 6 of 11 1 paragraph 33 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 2 34. 3 paragraph 34 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 4 35. 5 paragraph 35 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 6 36. 7 paragraph 36 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 8 37. 9 paragraph 37 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in 10 38. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in 11 paragraph 38 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 12 39. 13 paragraph 39 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 14 40. 15 paragraph 40 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 16 41. 17 paragraph 41 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. 18 42. 19 paragraph 42 of the Complaint and therefore DENIES them. The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in The City lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief about the allegations in V. 20 DECLARATORY RELIEF ALLEGATIONS 21 43. Paragraph 43 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 22 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 23 DENIES those allegations. CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 6 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 7 of 11 1 44. Paragraph 44 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 2 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 3 DENIES those allegations. 4 45. 5 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 6 DENIES those allegations. 7 46. 8 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 9 DENIES those allegations. Paragraph 45 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. Paragraph 46 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. VI. 10 PERMANENT INJUNCTIVE RELIEF ALLEGATIONS 11 47. Paragraph 47 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. 12 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 13 DENIES those allegations. 14 48. 15 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 16 DENIES those allegations. Paragraph 48 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. VII. 17 CAUSES OF ACTION COUNT I 18 19 49. Paragraph 49 of the Complaint contains no allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 20 8(b)(1)(B) and therefore does not require an admission or denial. To the extent paragraph 49 restates 21 previous allegations requiring a response, the City reiterates its previous denials or admissions of 22 those allegations. 23 50. Paragraph 50 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 7 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 8 of 11 1 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 2 DENIES those allegations. 3 51. 4 required. To the extent that paragraph 51 characterizes Ordinance 125393, the ordinance speaks for 5 itself, and the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 51 contains 6 allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. To the extent that paragraph 51 of the Complaint states legal conclusions, no answer is COUNT II 7 8 52. Paragraph 52 of the Complaint contains no allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 9 8(b)(1)(B) and therefore does not require an admission or denial. To the extent paragraph 52 restates 10 previous allegations requiring a response, the City reiterates its previous denials or admissions of 11 those allegations. 12 53. 13 To the extent that it contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 14 DENIES those allegations. 15 54. 16 States Constitution. The text of the amendment speaks for itself, and the City therefore DENIES the 17 allegations of paragraph 54. 18 55. 19 individuals in reintegrating into society after release from incarceration” as stated in paragraph 55 of 20 the Complaint. Plaintiffs’ characterization of that purpose as a “laudable goal” is not an allegation 21 within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B). The remainder of paragraph 55 states only legal 22 conclusions to which no answer is required. To the extent that it contains allegations within the 23 meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. Paragraph 53 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. Paragraph 54 of the Complaint purports to quote the Fourteenth Amendment to the United The City ADMITS that one purpose of the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance is to “assist CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 8 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 9 of 11 Paragraph 56 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of “studies collected in the City 1 56. 2 clerk’s file report…” Because those “studies” speak for themselves, the City DENIES those 3 characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 56 contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. 4 Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 5 57. 6 the ordinance speaks for itself, the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 7 57 contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those 8 allegations. 9 58. Paragraph 57 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393. Because Paragraph 58 of the Complaint consists in part of characterizations of the recitals of Ordinance 10 125393 and characterizations of “studies relied upon by the City….” Because the recitals and studies 11 speak for themselves, the City DENIES those characterizations. The remainder of paragraph 58 states 12 only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. To the extent that remainder contains 13 allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 14 59. 15 125393 and at least one study. Because the recitals and study or studies speak for themselves, the 16 City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 59 contains allegations within the 17 meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 18 60. 19 and at least one study. Because the ordinance, its recitals, and the study or studies speak for 20 themselves, the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent that paragraph 60 contains 21 allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City DENIES those allegations. 22 61. 23 The studies and statute speak for themselves, the City DENIES those characterizations. To the extent Paragraph 59 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of the recitals of Ordinance Paragraph 60 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of Ordinance 125393, its recitals, Paragraph 61 of the Complaint consists of characterizations of studies and an Oregon statute. CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 9 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 10 of 11 1 that paragraph 61 contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), the City 2 DENIES those allegations. 3 62. 4 To the extent that paragraph 62 contains allegations within the meaning of Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(b)(1)(B), 5 the City DENIES those allegations. Paragraph 62 of the Complaint states only legal conclusions to which no answer is required. VIII. PRAYER FOR RELIEF 6 7 8 9 No response is required to Plaintiffs’ prayer for relief. CITY’S PRAYER FOR RELIEF X. The City asks the court to DISMISS this action, enter judgment for the City, and award the 10 City such costs and attorney fees as the law allows. 11 DATED this 29th day of May, 2018. 12 PETER S. HOLMES Seattle City Attorney 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 By: s/ Josh Johnson Josh Johnson, WSBA #33570 Assistant City Attorney Email: Josh.Johnson@Seattle.Gov Phone: (206) 233-7808 Sara O’Connor-Kriss, WSBA #41569 Assistant City Attorney Email: Sara.OConnor-Kriss@Seattle.Gov Phone: (206) 615-0788 Roger D. Wynne, WSBA #23399 Assistant City Attorney Email: Roger.Wynne@Seattle.Gov Phone: (206) 233-2177 22 Seattle City Attorney’s Office 701 Fifth Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104 Fax: (206) 684-8284 23 Attorneys for Defendant City of Seattle 21 CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 10 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200 Case 2:18-cv-00736-JCC Document 8 Filed 05/29/18 Page 11 of 11 1 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 2 3 I hereby certify that on May 29, 2018 I electronically filed the foregoing with the Clerk of the Court using the CM/EMF system which will send notification of such filing to the following: 4 5 6 7 Ethan W. Blevins, WSBA #48219 Brian T. Hodges, WSBA #31976 PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION 10940 NE 33rd Place, Suite 210 Bellevue, WA 98004 [Attorneys for Plaintiffs] 8 DATED this 29th day of May, 2018, at Seattle, King County, Washington. 9 10 11 s/ Jennifer Litfin Jennifer Litfin, Legal Assistant 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 CITY OF SEATTLE’S ANSWER TO COMPLAINT- 11 YIM ET AL. V. CITY OF SEATTLE, NO. C18-736JCC Peter S. Holmes Seattle City Attorney 701 5th Avenue, Suite 2050 Seattle, WA 98104-7097 (206) 684-8200