VISTA

Can VISTA help with your rental housing or neighbor issue?

VISTA (Voluntary Initiative for Stable Tenancy and Affordability) is a new housing program of the DRC. VISTA assists with a wide variety of conflicts in rental housing throughout King County.

Our VISTA team uses conflict coaching and mediation to prevent eviction and deescalate conflicts to improve housing stability. What types of conflict can we help with?

• Leasing Violations, including unpaid rent
• Neighbor disputes such as noise, parking, and use of common spaces
• Disagreements regarding property maintenance, repairs, amenities, and others.

 VISTA services are free for tenants and landlords. After you complete the mediation request form, a member of our team will review your situation and determine if VISTA is right for you.

Mediation

Mediation can feel scary if you do not know what to expect. In mediation, a trained, neutral facilitator will help neighbors, landlords, and tenants to meet face-to-face over Zoom to find creative solutions to a variety of disagreements. Our staff will prepare you for the meeting in advance so you are ready to make offers and be heard during the meeting. If you come to an agreement at the mediation, the mediator will draft an agreement that is enforceable in court.

Conflict Coaching

If you are unsure you want to meet the other party in a mediation, or if they won’t meet with you, try conflict coaching. You will meet with a skilled conflict resolution professional to review the situation. They will coach you so you can manage the conflict more effectively on your own. You will gain new ideas and resources to communicate better and negotiate with the other party, to come up with your own solutions.

The DRC is a community-based nonprofit that provides conflict resolution services in King County for a wide variety of conflicts, including housing disputes. Through VISTA, we assist tenants, landlords, and neighbors in rental communities who seek help resolving their conflicts without expensive lawyers, long delays, and the intimidation of going to court.

Our mediators are neutral third parties who are trained facilitators. They empower both parties to negotiate their own solution without the need for a judge. If the parties come to a solution they both agree with, the mediator will write the agreements into a legally binding contract that could be used in court if needed. Many housing providers and tenants have avoided expensive and lengthy eviction cases with the help of DRC mediators.

Would you like to try a reasonable approach to conflict that avoids traditional paths to court? Do you want to have a say in the final solution rather than have a judge decide your fate? Does a no-cost mediation sound appealing?

To see if VISTA is right for your situation? It is easy to start the process. Complete this form and a member of our staff member will follow up with you within three business days.