Establishing Effective Screening Criteria

Under Washington law, before obtaining any information about a prospective tenant, you must give them your screening criteria notice. It must indicate what information you will access, what criteria may result in denial, and other specific details about any consumer report you may use. Using this notice will assist you in effectively screening out high-risk tenants while following all fair housing laws and rental regulations. Attorney Chris Benis will review the laws and best practices for writing criteria based on key terms of your rental agreement, income, rental history, financial history, criminal and civil court records, and other important factors. Both effective and cautionary examples will be shared.

All written, presented and recorded content provided by RHAWA for this course are for the use of the participants enrolled in the course. Copyrighted course content may not be further disseminated. 

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.