Seattle, like many cities, is experiencing a housing shortage—or what some city leaders call a “crisis.” But in an attempt to address it, Seattle has only made matters worse. https://ij.org/case/seattle-housing-affordability/ In 2019, the city created the Mandatory Housing Affordability (MHA) Program, which places unique burdens on anyone building in certain zones throughout the city. In so doing, the city’s attempt to make housing more affordable has done just the opposite: it has made it more expensive to build affordable housing. The city was warned that this would happen. The city-commissioned report on MHA’s “economic feasibility” acknowledged that its burdensome costs would stall new housing construction in the bottom third of the housing market. Nevertheless, the city put MHA into effect—trumpeting it as a “grand bargain” with “major players,” including large developers. But for ordinary Seattleites, MHA is no bargain. Longtime Central District homeowner Anita Adams knows this firsthand. Anita wants to build a modest addition to house her two adult children. But before she can get a building permit, the city demands that she either build additional “affordable” housing units or pay nearly $77,000 into the MHA program. Those fees make Anita’s plans impossible—and leave the city with fewer affordable housing units. Anita is not alone. Across the city, anyone wishing to construct a home must face incomprehensibly high fees or burdensome and intrusive new housing mandates levied in the name of “affordable housing.” And yet, the laws of basic economics (and common sense) dictate that these costs result in higher rents and fewer housing options. Fortunately for Anita, the Constitution dictates that governments cannot use the permitting process as an opportunity to coerce money from property owners, and certainly not at the expense of the city’s middle- and low-income residents. Anita has partnered with the Institute for Justice to challenge Seattle’s counterproductive and unconstitutional MHA program and clear the way for homeowners to develop their own land without paying exorbitant fees.