Imagine you are renting a property and your grass dies and gets brown (this is the Pacific Northwest, where, aside from some unseasonable August rain, it’s pretty dry all summer).

Then you get a note from your management company that letting that grass die violates the property’s rules and fines you $125. Then, on top of that, the company charges you an additional $125 for the trouble it took to put that note on your door. 

These fines, so called “junk fees,” are allowed in Washington State. 

A few cities like Seattle and Olympia have banned them. But those living outside areas with regulations can be subjected to a myriad of fines. 

Renters claim it is a way to penalize them to the point of moving. 

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Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network. 

Guests:

• Kelsey Turner, reporter at InvestigateWest

Relevant Links:

• InvestigateWest: WA renters say unregulated ‘junk fees’ are being used to retaliate, discriminate