Concerns of increased identity theft prompt added renter protections in Bellingham

The City of Bellingham will soon require landlords to provide locking mailboxes for tenants and is tying that order to the city’s rental registration ordinance to give the measure some teeth.

Locking mailboxes are required for new apartment buildings in Bellingham, but many of the city’s rental units are single-family homes that are often occupied by multiple tenants. Some 54% of Bellingham residents are renters, according to census data.

The measure passed 4-0 on Monday night, with Councilman Michael Lilliquist abstaining via remote link and council members Skip Williams and Hannah Stone absent. When the measure was first discussed in a committee meeting on July 15, it had unanimous council support.

Councilwoman Lisa Anderson said the idea for the measure evolved when a resident showed her several pieces of mail that he had found on the street.

“It had bills, credit card information ripped open. And so the discussion started about how unsecure some of our older neighborhoods, and older apartment complexes, their mail bins are,” Anderson said.

“Nationally, there is so much mail theft, and that could lead to identity theft, credit issues, because if you don’t pay your bills you end up having to pay extra fees or being sent to collections and so some of our community members who could least afford to have things like that happen often are people who rent in some of our older neighborhoods,” she said.

The ordinance ties the installation of locking mailboxes, with one parcel locker for every five residents, to the city’s rental registration and inspection programs. Renewal of rental permits would trigger the installation of locking boxes.

Anderson said it was a “small cost to bear” for landlords.

The measure becomes effective Jan. 1, 2025.