It is not the fault of the landlords. Almost anyone would do the same given the same situation and ability to make a large amount of money. The problem is that the City of Seattle allows for the creation of new housing without the creation of enough affordable housing.

It would also be reasonable to index the level of income for new city-mandated apartments to the minimum wage. So if we have someone working for $15/hr (minimum wage) and 30k/yr who takes home $1939.26 monthly they should only be paying maximum 40% after-tax income into rent, which is 1939.26 * 0.4 = $775.70. Someone making $85k/yr will have a take home of $4997.46/mo, and can afford $1998.

So someone making minimum wage would not be able to afford their own apartment...

This is where the city government should take control, and mandate more low to medium income housing, and more micro apartments. South Seattle along the light rail would be a great area to build up, as it allows for easy access to downtown & Seatac jobs, and would finally stop some of the problems that we have seen here. The U-district/Ravenna could also be redeveloped more, although that is already happening.