To fix the government killed lending with the Dodd-Frank legislation that kept changing the rules on lenders so no one could get mortgages.Today, banks and the government are working with people to get through this, not in 2008. 

A law must be promulgated in the legislative branch.

Plus, the awesome thing about Seattle is that rents are high and with the new legislation you can add another 1-2 units to any single family house (basically you can have up to 3 total units in any single family home now).I’d look at doing both here.

The Dodd / Frank legislation made it a law.

In Ontario, you have one of the most pro-tenant agencies in the country ... as @Luc Boiron pointed out, you cannot even compel a tenant to leave at the end of a term lease.Here in NB, long-term tenant has a specific meaning in the legislation: a tenancy which has lasted 5yrs or longer.  

There is also the difficulty with evictions and other new legislation being passed (balcony maintenance, etc.).

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?

If you google the most friendly cities, you can see that some are better than others based on legislation.  

You can typically go to the tax appraisers website - many of them will calculate how much the taxes has been reduced by SOH “Save our home” legislation.

You might want a lawyer.There is specific federal legislation around leases and active duty military who get a change of location or MOP.