Key Takeaways
- Effective tenant screening in Tacoma starts with legal compliance, including strict adherence to Washington’s screening fee limits, fair housing laws, and disclosure requirements.
- Using objective criteria like income level, credit score, and rental history ensures fair evaluations, helping landlords avoid discrimination and choose reliable tenants.
- A structured screening process—from filtering applications to verifying references—minimizes risk, reduces turnover, and protects your rental investment.
Tacoma is home to more than fifty parks and open green areas, plus the city serves as a prominent business center. With its high-quality amenities and strong local economy, it’s no wonder that there is a high demand for rental properties in the area. If you’re thinking of renting our your property, you could stand to earn steady returns.
However, letting the wrong tenants into your home can result in extensive property damage, loss of profits, and holdover tenancies. If you want to avoid this, you must learn how to screen potential tenants effectively. To help you out, the team at Red Roof Rentals has written the following guide:
Familiarize Yourself with the Local Laws
As a landlord, you have to ensure compliance with the local rental laws from the moment you list your home for rent. Washington has strict rules surrounding tenant screening, which are detailed in RCW 59.18.257. Here’s everything you should know to ensure legal compliance during the screening process:
Screening Fees
As a landlord, you can charge tenants fees to cover the cost of the screening process. However, you cannot charge more than the actual costs incurred during the screening.
If you do the screening yourself, then you cannot charge more than what a local screening company would charge. You must also disclose the cost of any fees in writing.
Holding Fees
Washington landlords can charge prospective tenants a fee to hold the unit for them while the screening process is finalized. However, the amount charged cannot be more than 25% of the monthly rent.
Upon receiving the money, the landlord must give the tenant a receipt and a written statement of any conditions that would result in them keeping your fee. The holding fee won’t be returned unless the landlord decides not to rent the property to that tenant.
Fair Housing Laws
The Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from rejecting tenants based on their race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, and disability status.
Additionally, the state of Washington provides protections under RCW 59.18 .580. Refusing to rent out a home to a qualified tenant due their protected class can result in fines and lawsuits.
Privacy Laws
During the application process, you’ll be handling sensitive information, including a tenant’s addresses, credit reports, and bank information.
To avoid breaching privacy laws, store all sensitive documents in a secure space and avoid sharing tenants’ personal information unless strictly necessary, such as sending it over to a screening company to run background checks.
Written Notice Requirements
Washington landlords are required to disclose key information about the screening process upfront. This includes written notice of any fees that will be charged, what information will be collected for the screening process, and what information may make them reject an application.
Additionally, if you use consumer reports or hire a professional tenant screening company, you must disclose the agency's name and address and be willing to provide tenants with a copy of their consumer report if you reject their application.
Additional Tenant Protections
Washington laws provide protections to prevent tenants from being discriminated against based on their source of income. As a landlord, you cannot deny a tenant’s application because their income comes from sources other than traditional job wages.
Additionally, you cannot reject a tenant’s application because of any nonpayment history between March 1, 2020, and May 1, 2022.
Set Objective Screening Criteria
Setting objective criteria for the screening process, such as a specific credit score, good references from previous landlords, or a minimum income amount, will help you find qualified tenants more easily. Moreover, it’ll help you evaluate all applicants fairly, ensuring compliance with fair housing laws.
Filter Applications
With a good marketing strategy, you can get countless applications in a short span of time. While this increases your chances of finding the perfect tenants, it also means more work when it comes to screening. You can save time by filtering out those applications that don’t meet your criteria or minimum requirements.
Conduct the Necessary Checks
After filtering out the applications, you can go ahead and review the remaining applications. This includes conducting any necessary background, rental, and income verification checks.
Additionally, you should contact references, such as former landlords and present employers, to verify that the information prospective tenants provided is accurate.
Select the Best Fit
By this point, you should be left with a small number of candidates. The more robust your screening criteria are, the easier it’ll be to determine who’s the best fit. Once you’ve selected an applicant, you must communicate your decision and outline the next steps.
You should also inform the unsuccessful applicants that they have been rejected. Keep things short, and abstain from explaining your decision unless tenants ask about it. What’s more, make sure to document and keep records of everything to prove you’ve treated all applicants in accordance with Fair Housing Laws.
Bottom Line
Tenant screening is a crucial step in the leasing process. If you want to find reliable tenants who will pay rent on time, respect the lease terms, and take care of the rental property, then you should carefully screen all potential applicants. Just make sure to comply with local and federal rental laws while doing so to avoid fines and legal disputes.
If you need help screening tenants or managing your rentals, contact Red Roof Rentals! Our team of dedicated property managers is ready to help you find the best tenants for your Tacoma rental!
