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Bellevue highlights Housing Accord and Conflict Resolution Center pilot: early referrals cut evictions
Summary
City staff and the Conflict Resolution Center reported that the Housing Accord and an early‑referral pilot helped resolve most cases before eviction; since Sept. 2023 the program completed 432 cases and an early‑referral pilot completed 116 cases with an approximately 90% resolution rate, staff said.
Bellevue staff and the city’s Conflict Resolution Center on Sept. 23 updated the council on the Housing Accord program, a voluntary eviction‑prevention effort launched after state eviction‑prevention funding lapsed. Natalie Daniels, manager of the Conflict Resolution Center, and Julia Devlin, the housing accord coordinator, described a cross‑cultural, landlord‑tenant mediation model that emphasizes early intervention and one‑on‑one coaching to avoid formal evictions.
Devlin summarized an early‑referral pilot run with Allied Residential and the King County Housing Authority from November through March: 24 property managers used flyers included with pay‑or‑vacate notices to notify tenants about the center’s services. The pilot completed 116 cases and staff reported an approximately 90% resolution rate for pilot cases. Devlin said many matters were resolved on‑site or through coaching and negotiated repayment plans; she told the council that managers resolved about 41 notices on site during the pilot (figures and counts as presented at the meeting). Since the Housing Accord began in September 2023, staff said the center completed 432 cases and helped people remain housed.
The presentation emphasized the center’s mediation capacity: more than 500 cases a year handled during pre‑pandemic periods, a volunteer cadre of roughly 50 trained mediators (about 20 actively taking cases), and partnerships with human services organizations and property managers. Devlin noted the program’s 82% resolution success during the mandatory pandemic dispute resolution period (when statewide rules required mediated repayment plans) and said the non‑mandatory Housing Accord has preserved core practices developed during that time.
Councilmembers praised the program and asked staff to continue expanding early referral networks and outreach to landlords and human services agencies. City Manager Mike Carlson and assistant director Mike McCormack introduced the staff team and said the Housing Accord has become an important voluntary resource for landlords and tenants who prefer negotiation over formal eviction processes.
