The Seattle City Council continues its streak of government-intrusive policies, on Monday unanimously passing restrictions on how much landlords can charge tenants for move-in costs. You can read all about it in The Seattle Times:

It’s not rent control, which state law prohibits Seattle from enacting. But City Councilmember Kshama Sawant thinks this ordinance is the next-best thing.

Many landlords who showed up at the vote were understandably upset:

“You’re declaring war on us,” said one landlord among dozens who slammed the ordinance as unfair during the council’s public-comment period.

As The Times has previously reported, Seattle leads the nation in growth of housing rents. More people are moving here, and they're competing for limited housing. The Seattle City Council's strategy of punishing landlords seems unlikely to meet with success. Councilmembers might better serve city residents by considering, for example, the link between severe land-use regulations and reduced social mobility and income equality. Policies that increase the supply of housing would seem to be the best solution for those who can't afford to live in Seattle.