Rats, Mold Reported in Seattle Public Housing as Repair Delays Grow

A new report published by Got Green on April 21 alleges the Seattle Housing Authority (SHA) operates properties that are "currently in a state of disrepair or neglect." The report includes anecdotes from anonymous SHA tenants that describe rat infestations, moldy carpets, and water leaks in public housing.

In the report, "Public Housing to Weather the Storm: The Fight for Healthy Public Housing in Seattle," Got Green demands SHA repair its units, as well as weatherize and decarbonize their housing stock to center tenant health, arguing that SHA can become a national champion of healthy public housing.

Founded in 1939 following the passage of Washington state's Housing Authority Law, SHA is Seattle's only public housing authority, and all of the city's public housing stock is owned and operated by SHA. In addition to managing its own 8,777 public housing units across the city, including Rainier Vista and NewHolly in the Rainier Valley, SHA also provides rental assistance in the form of housing vouchers.

Got Green is a nonprofit organization that rallies working-class Black and Brown communities to join in the fight for racial, economic, and environmental justice, according to its website. In the 48-page report, Got Green defines healthy public housing as "housing that is publicly owned to serve the common good, permanently and deeply affordable, accountable to tenants, good for workers and our neighborhoods, and nourishing to the health of the people and the planet." 

Got Green alleges in the report that SHA failed to maintain adequate communication with tenants regarding their repair requests. The report states that after repeatedly contacting SHA but getting no response, being told their repair needs were not a priority, and facing language barriers while attempting to engage with SHA staff, "tenants expressed feelings of frustration, confusion, fear, and hopelessness when discussing trying to get SHA to address repair issues."

In an email to the Emerald, Emily Chan, communications organizer for Got Green, wrote that on the day the report was released, SHA tenants marched to an SHA meeting where they described how the lack of repairs had led to unhealthy living conditions. One tenant, Chan wrote, shared that their bathroom has been covered with mold for years, and they received frustrating excuses from SHA when they followed up about needing repairs.

"Our report clearly lays out that SHA is failing to abide by the law by leaving so many repair issues incomplete after weeks, months, and even years, which was compiled from tenants' experiences along with SHA's own records," wrote Chan.

In a statement emailed to the Emerald, an SHA representative wrote that the housing authority is "committed to the safety and wellbeing [sic] of our residents. Completing repairs and maintaining the quality of our buildings is work we take seriously."

The SHA statement noted that since 2002, "approximately 90% of our federally subsidized properties have received a passing score from HUD's Real Estate Assessment Center," adding that in 2025, "SHA completed more work orders than it received, completing 74,000 maintenance requests across our properties, with emergency and urgent repairs prioritized across all communities."

The report shares numerous tenants' stories, including one describing moldy carpet that exacerbates the asthma of a tenant's child, causing a "neverending cycle" of ER visits, bleaching the carpet, and complaining to SHA. Another story describes a tenant bagging up a dead rat and leaving it on the counter inside an SHA property's management office, an act that the report says shows the "bold measures" SHA tenants feel they must take in order to be heard. One tenant reported having to use a bucket to catch water falling from a "consistent leak in the middle of her living room," a problem she believes is causing mold to build up beneath the carpet where the children play.

Data included in the report indicates that between January 2022 and September 2023, SHA's staff inspectors identified 39,744 maintenance issues in 5,379 of their public housing units, indicating over 61% of SHA's entire public housing stock was recognized by SHA inspectors as in need of repair. After submitting requests to SHA for repair, 67% of households, or 5,862 units, have waited more than 10 days for repairs to be complete, and 21% of SHA households have waited over 100 days for repairs to be complete.

The report also highlights the immense backlog of repair requests at SHA, stating that 38% of households, or 3,372 units, have submitted repair requests that remain incomplete. The most common requests pertain to issues with roofing, doors, windows, electrical systems, and broken appliances, according to Got Green's report.

While Got Green acknowledges that SHA has made organizational adjustments to address tenants' demands, the organization argues there is still work to be done. Got Green demands that SHA complete all open maintenance work orders immediately. The organization also suggests that SHA improve their system for submitting repair requests and streamline the process for tenants with accessibility needs by making sure its property management offices are consistently open and staffed and implementing language diversity to SHA's online portal.

The repair requests, the report stresses, take on heightened urgency due to extreme weather events caused by climate change. In addition to fulfilling all repair requests as soon as possible, the organization challenges SHA to decarbonize their units and remove gas-powered heaters and ranges, replacing them with "energy-efficient green appliances and HVAC systems."

In Chan's email to the Emerald, Chan wrote, "This report is one pathway from which we will continue to build power for the work tenants are doing by exposing how SHA is failing to follow basic tenant protections and by elevating tenants’ demands for healthy public housing."

Editor's Note: This story was updated on April 23 to include a statement from SHA.