Update: Seattle’s Landmark Tenant Screening Law Faces Challenges; Final Outcome Still Undecided
Seattle’s recent tenant screening law, one that tightly regulates to whom a landlord and/or property manager can rent, has faced legal challenges and Washington’s State Supreme Court upheld key provisions of the law. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of TenantScreeningUSA.com opines: “Any legal or legislative activity that affects tenant screening should put landlords and/or property managers on notice to make sure their policies and procedures are legal and compliant; and a best practice remains to work with a highly qualified tenant screening agency, such as TenantScreeningUSA.com.”
Seattle’s tenant screening law, commonly referred to as “First-in-Line” has survived initial legal challenges. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of TenantScreeningUSA.com states: “Seattle’s law could face numerous legal challenges which, subsequently, highlights the need for landlords and/or property managers to work with a well-qualified tenant screening agency, such as TenantScreeningUSA.com.”
Several years after the initial passage of Seattle’s “First-in-Time” law legal challenges continue to slow full implementation.
From Seattle.Curbed.com (Nov. 21, 19):
Three years after its initial passage, Seattle’s “first-in-time” law, which requires a landlord to accept the first qualified applicant to live in a rental property, has been upheld by the Washington State Supreme Court. The law had been overturned in late March by a lower court and was subsequently appealed by the city. (1)
The law was intended to eliminate bias in tenant screening and related housing.
From Seattle.Curbed.com (Nov. 21, 19):
The laws were the First in Time law, requiring landlords to rent a property to the first qualified applicant, and the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance, prohibiting landlords from looking into the criminal backgrounds of potential tenants. (2)
Almeida adds: “Landlords and property managers have begun to push back against this law, hence the recent court challenges, and are pushing hard to reverse the law entirely.”
From MHPMag.com (Nov. 19, 19):
The property owners objected to these laws based on protections in the United States and Washington State constitutions against government takings of private property and for due process and free speech. Lower courts had found these arguments persuasive based on precedents established by earlier cases. A laymen’s reading of the decisions by the Washington State Supreme Court is that the justices decided that the lower courts erred by
concluding that the Washington State Supreme Court had established protections that were broader than those found in the Federal Constitution. Also, the justices determined that recent rulings by the United States Supreme Court had effectively invalidated some of the precedents the lower courts had used as justification for their decisions. Therefore, they reversed the lower courts’ rulings. (3)
Almeida concludes: “A best practice remains for landlords and/or property managers to work with well-qualified third-party tenant screening agency in order to remain fully compliant with all law, especially when new laws are introduced and challenged in court. Laws can change quickly and it’s best to be prepared.”
TenantScreeningUSA.com provides full service tenant screening for landlords and property managers of any size and can greatly assist in remaining fully compliant with all existing law governing tenant screening. With a highly trained and experienced staff, TenantScreeningUSA.com can provide help to landlords and property managers with all their tenant screening needs.
Notes:
- seattle.curbed.com/2019/11/21/20967118/seattle-tenant-protections-first-in-time
- ibid
- mhpmag.com/2019/11/setback-in-seattle/
