APPLICATION SCREENING CRITERIA

Management will not accept a comprehensive reusable tenant screening report.

(For All Applicants 18+)

Thank you for your interest in our property. The following criteria explain how we evaluate applications, consistent with the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and the Washington Fair Tenant Screening Act.

Our goal is to provide safe, well-maintained housing for all residents. Screening is conducted to ensure applicants do not pose an unreasonable risk to the safety of people, the property, or the surrounding community. Screening of criminal history is limited to serious offenses against persons or property.

INFORMATION WE MAY VERIFY

As part of the application process, we may obtain any or all of the following:

  • Consumer credit report
  • Eviction and/or judgment records, including filed cases
  • Criminal conviction history, including sex-offender registry checks for applicants 18+
  • Rental history, including fulfillment of prior lease obligations, payment history, property condition, and conduct notices
  • Income verification (each applicant must earn at least 3 times their portion of the monthly rent)

This information may be collected through a consumer reporting agency.

YOUR RIGHTS

You may request and review the information in your file from the consumer reporting agency and dispute any inaccuracies. If your application is denied or conditionally approved based on information from a consumer report, you will receive an Adverse Action Notice with:

  • The reason(s) for the decision
  • Contact information for the reporting agency
  • Instructions on how to request a free copy of your report and dispute incorrect information

The consumer reporting agency does not make our decision and cannot explain why your application was approved or denied.

POSSIBLE REASONS FOR DENIAL OR CONDITIONAL APPROVAL

Applications may be denied—or approved with conditions such as a co-signer—for any of the following:

Financial Criteria

  • Rent-to-income ratio not met
  • Debt-to-income ratio unsatisfactory
  • Insufficient or unverifiable income
  • Unsatisfactory credit history, including:
    • Bankruptcy within the last 7 years
    • Judgments within the last 7 years
    • Collections within the last 7 years
  • Insufficient credit history

Rental History Criteria

  • Negative or unverifiable rental references
  • Lease violations, excessive damage, unpaid balances, or conduct notices
  • Lack of rental history within the past 7 years

Application Issues

  • Incomplete application
  • Unverifiable information
  • Fraud alerts or identity concerns
  • Misrepresentation or omission of material facts Hostile, rude, impaired, or inappropriate behavior during the application process

Employment Criteria

  • Insufficient or unverifiable employment history

Safety & Conduct Criteria

  • Criminal conviction history that indicates risk to persons or property (see list below)
  • Required sex-offender registration
  • Reliable information that applicant poses a direct threat to persons or property

CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS THAT MAY RESULT IN DENIAL

(As well as substantially similar offenses)

  • Murder Manslaughter
  • Assault (1st–4th degree)
  • Robbery Rape (all counts)
  • Child molestation (all counts)
  • Rape of a child (all counts)
  • Kidnapping (all counts)
  • Theft (1st & 2nd degree)
  • Burglary / Vehicle prowling
  • Malicious mischief
  • Arson / Reckless burning
  • Delivery, sale, manufacture, or possession of controlled substances
  • Sex-offender registration requirement

When evaluating criminal history, we may consider:

  • Applicant’s age at the time of the offense
  • Evidence of rehabilitation
  • Positive rental history before or after the offense
  • Nature and severity of the offense
  • Number of similar offenses

PENDING CHARGES

  • Applicants with an arrest and pending criminal case may be evaluated based on the specific conduct involved.
  • If the pending case relates to any of the offenses above, the application will be placed on hold until the case is resolved.
  • No applicant with a pending qualifying criminal case may be approved or move in until the case is finalized.

MISREPRESENTATION POLICY

If the landlord discovers that an applicant or tenant misrepresented or omitted a material fact during the application process, any prior approval is revoked. In such cases, all occupants will be considered to be in the unit without permission and must immediately vacate.

REASONABLE ACCOMMODATIONS

We evaluate all reasonable accommodation requests consistent with federal and state law, including RCW 19.182.040.

FEDERAL EQUAL CREDIT OPPORTUNITY ACT NOTICE

The Federal Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, or age (provided the application has the capacity to enter into a binding contract) because all or part of the applicant’s income derives from any public assistance program, or because the applicant has in good faith exercised any right under the Consumer Credit Protection Act. The federal agency that administers compliance with this law concerning questions regarding the Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity call toll-free 800-382-4357 or write to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, 451 7th Street S.W., Room 5100, Washington, DC 20410.

RCW 19.182.040

Consumer report—Prohibited information—Exceptions.

(1) Except as authorized under subsection (2) of this section, no consumer reporting agency may make a consumer report containing any of the following items of information:

(a) Bankruptcies that, from date of adjudication of the most recent bankruptcy, antedate the report by more than ten years;
(b) Suits and judgments that, from date of entry, antedate the report by more than seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is the longer period;
(c) Paid tax liens that, from date of payment, antedate the report by more than seven years;
(d) Accounts placed for collection or charged to profit and loss that antedate the report by more than seven years;
(e) Records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of an adult for a crime that, from date of disposition, release, or parole, antedate the report by more than seven years;
(f) Juvenile records, as defined in *RCW 13.50.010(1)(c), when the subject of the records is twenty-one years of age or older at the time of the report; and
(g) Any other adverse item of information that antedates the report by more than seven years.

(2) Subsection (1)(a) through (e) and (g) of this section is not applicable in the case of a consumer report to be used in connection with:

(a) A credit transaction involving, or that may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount of fifty thousand dollars or more;
(b) The underwriting of life insurance involving, or that may reasonably be expected to involve, a face amount of fifty thousand dollars or more; or
(c) The employment of an individual at an annual salary that equals, or that may reasonably be expected to equal, twenty thousand dollars or more.

[ 2011 c 333 s 2; 1993 c 476 s 6.]