WE ENCOURAGE RENTAL HOUSING PROVIDERS TO SCREEN ALL PROSPECTIVE ADULT TENANTS.

prospective tenants, you are looking for lots of different information from a variety of sources. The criminal records* are pulled from a criminal records database; eviction records come from a statewide eviction records database. The applicant’s credit report and credit information come from the credit bureaus. When you order your tenant screening report from RHAWA, we wrap it all in one complete, easy-toread report for you.

RHAWA screening uses TransUnion to pull the credit information. The credit information for the prospective tenant is a hard pull from TransUnion. It is an actual report to ensure that the housing provider receives all the pertinent details. This is especially important, considering all the changes that have taken place throughout Washington State.

A credit report can help you determine a person’s financial responsibility. You might not feel a need to require flawless credit, but you may want to make sure that they are conscientious when it comes to repaying their debt. An actual report can tell you how much debt an individual has and what their monthly financial obligation is for repaying that debt. For example: loans and credit cards. The report can also tell you if they have fallen behind on payments and when. This information is necessary to determine the debt-to-income ratio and make sure that a prospective tenant can afford to pay the rent.

Many screening companies offer credit reports without requiring a certification. They do not require a certification because they provide the housing provider with a “summary” report. The summary report does not include the in-depth information you will find in a full credit report. For example, they may show the applicant’s list of closed creditor accounts, but not provide the reason for why they have closed. This can be valuable information to determine if the applicant wasn’t paying on the accounts and perhaps the creditor had to close it out as a charge-off, or it went to collection, or perhaps it was a lost or stolen card. A summary report does not provide information about the credit accounts being in arrears and whether they were 30, 60, or 90 days past due. Whereas a full credit report gives full detail of late dates and when the account becomes current in payments. These are just a couple of examples regarding key information missing from summary reports.

Several cities throughout Washington and the State itself have put forth many new ordinances and laws related to screening. The RHAWA screening department ensures that housing providers are getting the details they need to make unbiased and informed decisions, while complying with local laws that restrict certain details such as rent nonpayment during the COVID emergency and criminal history.

RHAWA also offers a class on how to interpret the screening report. You can access it through ONDEMAND education on the RHAWA website.

Don’t let the federally required Certification process deter you from having access to this important information. The RHAWA screening department

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