The King County Regional Homelessness Authority accused the Low-Income Housing Institute last year of failing to report several deaths at its “tiny house village” shelters in a timely fashion, including a homicide and an overdose that both occurred the same week in August at the Friendship Heights village in North Seattle.

Staffers discovered the body of another man who had died of an overdose in his unit at some point in the recent past; it’s unclear how recently staffers had entered his unit, although Lee says staffers are supposed to check in on residents every 72 hours. The victim went undiscovered enough, in the summer heat, that the floor had to be replaced because of decomposition

Seattle police say their data cannot prove causation, but the numbers do capture an increase in a two-city block radius of where the tiny village sits.

And the increase is a big one.

The city says because of all the complaints, they are now reviewing LIHI’s operations and requiring them to work with the residents at the village to address the problems.

Things came to a head in March when a fire destroyed three tiny homes and damaged another, forcing residents to flee in terror as their walls melted.

Three miles away, another Oakland tiny home community experienced tragedy in April. Program security guard Barry Murphy, who was working the night shift, was fatally shot in his car outside the Mandela Parkway site.

Tiny home communities are supposed to be safer, more habitable alternatives to Oakland’s encampments, but incidents like the recent fire and murder show how easily the dangers of the street can follow residents.