Seattle’s new Do Not Solicit registry targets unwanted home-buying pitches
Seattle homeowners will eventually have a city-run way to tell real-estate buyers and related businesses to stop making covered unsolicited pitches to buy or sell their homes. The protection has been approved, but the registry is not available yet.
The Seattle City Council passed Ordinance 127491 on Aug. 4, 2026. Mayor Katie B. Wilson signed it, and City Clerk Scheereen Dedman attested it on Aug. 12. The ordinance takes effect June 1, 2027.
How the registry will work
The ordinance authorizes the director of Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights to create and maintain a public Do Not Solicit List for eligible residential property owners. A residential property owner who has been solicited and does not want further covered solicitations may request that their name and property address be added to the list.
For purposes of the ordinance, residential property generally includes property used or held out for people to live in, whether it is owner-occupied, rented or vacant. The definition excludes multifamily property with more than four rental units. Eligible people can include the record owner and certain representatives, such as an executor, trustee, guardian or person authorized to approve a sale.
The city must update inclusion and removal requests within 30 days. Protection does not begin immediately after a request. Publication of the owner’s name and address becomes notice to solicitors 30 days after the entry first appears on the list.
Homeowners may later request removal in writing. The director may also remove an entry if the listed person is no longer the residential property owner of the address.
What the ordinance covers
The rule defines solicitation broadly. Covered communications may include mail, phone or other oral communications, texts, emails and other electronic messages.
Examples include asking an owner to list a property for sale, offering to purchase the property or an interest in it, advertising a buyer’s abilities, or offering services intended to help the owner decide whether to sell.
The ordinance does not prohibit every real-estate advertisement. Exclusions include communications the homeowner requested or invited, messages that solely provide an estimated sale value, utility or government communications, and certain generic bulk mailings from licensed Washington real-estate brokers that do not identify a specific owner, household or property beyond the mailing address.
The list may be used only to determine whether a solicitation is prohibited. Using the list or information derived from it for commercial purposes is separately designated an unfair practice.
Penalties and court action
After an investigation, the director may issue a citation if the ordinance’s standards or requirements have been violated. The penalty is $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 for each subsequent violation within a 12-month period. Each day a person violates or fails to comply with the section may be treated as a separate violation.
A cited person has 15 days after service to pay the penalty, request a mitigation hearing or request a contested hearing. A person who violates the rule must also plainly disclose the full legal name of the person making the solicitation, anyone acting on whose behalf it is made, a physical mailing address and a working telephone number.
Homeowners have a separate legal option. An aggrieved person or class of aggrieved people may bring a civil action within two years of the alleged unfair practice. A prevailing plaintiff may seek attorney’s fees and costs, injunctive or other equitable relief, and actual damages, including damages for mental suffering.
Why Seattle adopted it
The ordinance’s legislative findings say Seattle homeowners reported excessive and unwanted attempts to buy their homes, and that the practices can affect privacy, displacement and generational wealth. Those statements are the council’s stated rationale for the law, not findings from a court or an independent investigation.
During council discussions, homeowners and community representatives described repeated calls and other solicitations as stressful and intrusive. The ordinance says a written-comment effort received responses from 66 people who reported unwanted solicitations about selling their homes; 36% said they had received 41 or more in the previous two years. A separate July 22 council announcement said a related survey received responses from 74 residents.
What happens next
The city must implement the ordinance before its June 1, 2027, effective date. Homeowners should watch for official instructions before attempting to register; the ordinance itself does not establish an immediate sign-up process.
The law also requires public reporting. On or before July 1, 2028, and July 1, 2029, the city must report registrations, complaints, citations, appeals and outcomes, and penalties collected, broken down by City Council district.
Sources
Look for updates to this story
Discover more from Interactive News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.