Preferred Employer Discounts on Housing is a Gray Area

In our bi-monthly Seattlemag.com column, Knute Berger–who writes regularly for Seattle Magazine and Crosscut.com and is a frequent pundit on KUOW–takes an in-depth look at some of the highly topical and sometimes polarizing issues in our city.

One of the most stunning stories was The Stranger’s recent revelation that some Seattle landlords are giving special deals on rentals to employees of Amazon, Microsoft and select others. Working for the right company gets you discounts that aren’t allowed other potential tenants. Working for “non-preferred” employers—even if you make the same salary—will result in you paying more.

You might be a renter yourself, or have children who are. People all over town are struggling to find affordable apartments. Many landlords are squeezing the market. Even if you can afford a high monthly rent, coming up with first and last month’s rent plus a damage deposit and having spotless credit after a recession is a high bar for many folks. The process of building affordable apartments is a lot slower and more ponderous than the speed at which landlords can raise rates or lure affluent renters.

Race is a huge issue, too: critics of the practice of offering techie discounts claim it amounts to de facto discrimination because of the white, male nature of many tech employers. Beyond that, we already have evidence that actual discrimination is a major factor in Seattle. Thirteen properties representing more than 2,800 units were cited in June for discriminatory rental practices by the city’s Office of Civil Rights. According to The Seattle Times, the office’s investigation found that prospective test renters “reported disparate treatment in 64 percent of 42 tests related to race, 67 percent of 43 tests related to national origin, 63 percent of 30 tests related to sexual orientation and 67 percent of nine tests related to gender identity.”

Further, “African-American testers, for example, were shown fewer units, quoted higher prices and told more frequently than white testers about criminal-background and credit-history checks, the tests demonstrated.”

So while people of color, gays and immigrants get less, Amazon employees are getting the red-carpet treatment.

The revelation really goes to a sore point in affordability: that we make things easy on the haves at the expense of the have nots and that racial discrimination has not only shaped housing configurations in Seattle, but that it’s an active, ongoing phenomenon by virtue of the actions of real people. Discrimination exists as a tool of exclusion in a city that pats itself on the back as being inclusive.

This is why Kshama Sawant got elected to the city council, why council incumbent Tim Burgess has to worry about reelection with tenant’s rights activist Jon Grant nipping at his heels. The Office of Civil Rights is going to investigate the “preferred employer” discounts. Apparently, it’s considered a “gray” area of the law.

Affordable housing supply needs to increase, but that won’t solve the problems of how we behave in the present. And our behavior clearly needs real scrutiny.