Screening: Application Screening Criteria

Application Screening Criteria

Screening Department |  screening@RHAwa.org |  (206) 283-0816, option 2

Prior to obtaining any information about a prospective tenant, Washington State Law (RCW 59.18.257) requires that housing providers provide their screening criteria in writing. See RHAWA forms, Application Screening Criteria Guidelines for instructions on creating your application screening criteria notice. For properties in the City of Seattle, refer to Application Criteria Guidelines (Seattle).

Legal Requirements

Before collecting information on a prospective tenant, you must first inform them in writing of the following:

• The types of information that will be accessed to conduct the tenant screening. • All criteria that may result in denial of the application. • If a consumer report is used: • The name and address of the consumer reporting agency. • A statement of the prospective tenant's rights to obtain a free copy of the consumer report in the event of a denial or other adverse action, and to dispute the accuracy of information appearing in the consumer report. • Whether or not the landlord will accept a comprehensive reusable tenant screening report made available to the landlord by a consumer reporting agency. • If the housing provider indicates their willingness to accept a comprehensive reusable tenant screening report, the landlord may access the landlord's own tenant screening report regarding a prospective tenant as long as the prospective tenant is not charged for the landlord's own tenant screening report.

See RCW 59.18.257.

City of Seattle: Under the First-inTime Ordinance (SMC 14.08.050) you must also include:

• Minimum objective thresholds for each criterion that applicants will be screened against. • List of all required documentation that needs to be included for a complete application. • How to request extra time to complete the application in the case of

a disability or language barrier. • The application screening criteria notice must be included in all advertisements and given to each prospective tenant before accepting their application.

Tip: Your application screening criteria notice can be within the text of your advertisement, included as an image or series of images in the advertisement, or you may include a link to another website where your criteria are permanently hosted.

See Support Center article First-InTime Tenant Selection (Seattle) for more information.

Formal legal advice and review is recommended prior to selection and use of this information. RHAWA does not represent your selection or execution of this information as appropriate for your specific circumstance. The material contained and represented herein, although obtained from reliable sources, is not considered legal advice or to be used as a substitution for legal counsel.