Criminal history of potential applicants no longer a consideration

The Seattle City Council has approved new legislation that prevents a property owner from screening an applicant based on criminal history during the application process. The goal for this new legislation is to address some of the homelessness problems in the city by helping those with criminal records find fair housing. For property owners, this means you can no longer post ads for properties that bar people with convictions from applying. It also means that if you reject a tenant with criminal convictions that the property owner ha

s the burden of proving that rejection was not discriminatory. Property owners cannot ask about convictions more than two years old, arrests that did not result in convictions, pending charges, juvenile records, or convictions that have been expunged.

It’s important to note that Proper Rent can help you find the right tenant and stay within the lines of the law. We want to help great people find great tenants for their properties. We’ve been doing it for years and we don’t see this new legislation as a barrier to continuing successfully finding quality tenants fast.