Washington Fair Tenant Screening Act

1. Washington Fair Tenant Screening Act 2013 Legislative Session Lead Item – Washington Low Income Housing Alliance Powerpoint from the Tenants Union of Washington

2. Organizational Endorsements since 2009 The WLIHA has introduced versions of the Fair Tenant Screening Act (FTSA) since 2009. • American Civil Liberties Union – Washington • Washington Senior Citizens’ Lobby • Housing Consortium of Everett and Snohomish County • Eastside Domestic Violence Program • Seattle/King County Coalition for the Homeless • Statewide Poverty Action Network • Washington Coalition for the Homeless • Solid Ground • Washington State Labor Council • Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence • Children's Home Society of Washington • Washington Low Income Housing Alliance • Low Income Housing Institute • Tenants Union of Washington State • King County Committee to End Homelessness • Housing Development Consortium • Interfaith Taskforce on Homelessness

3. 2012 FTSA… • Transparency for tenants when they apply: • Disclosure of screening criteria and company • Adverse action notice • Stakeholder group

4. Goals of FTSA • Resolve problems in tenant screening to • Prevent and address homelessness • Maintain housing access for survivors of domestic violence • Reduce burden on nonprofit housing providers by increasing tenants’ access to private rental housing market • Ensure access to justice, and fair and accurate tenant screening • Address affordability of tenant screening reports

5. What is tenant screening? • Tenant screening reports provided to landlords by local trade associations, small screening companies or national screening corporations. • Typically include civil court records, a credit report, criminal records, or other documentation of interest to the landlord– used to determine if tenant is “rent-worthy” • Approximately 400 companies active in Washington State and providing reports to private landlords

6. What’s wrong with current practices of the tenant screening industry?

7. Accuracy When a tenant files for a domestic violence protection order, or is sued for eviction, the public record is automatically reported in tenant screening reports.

8. BUT • The reports do not give accurate or complete information to tell the landlord: • If the tenant prevailed or was not found guilty of the eviction lawsuit • DV impact

9. Without the FTSA, tenants have nogood options It is virtually impossible to seal a wrongful eviction court record. It is expensive and burdensome for survivors to redact or seal domestic violence records.

10. Affordability Tenant screening reports are a repetitive and unaffordable cost to tenants seeking housing.

11. Client Survey on Screening Costs Solid Ground’s Housing Stability Project (2007) conducted a two month survey of its clients and found: 65% spent over $100 27% spent over $200 Tenants who paid below $200 Tenants who paid below $100 Tenants who paid over $200 Tenants who paid over $100 The most spent by one family which was denied housing 15 times was $800.

12. What are the consequences? 1. Impeded Access to Justice: Because a tenant screening report can jeopardize a tenant’s future access to housing, tenants are advised to waive their rights to defend themselves in eviction court—even when they have a legitimate defense, and deterred from accessing the legal system to obtain necessary protection orders.

13. 2. Increased homelessness Inaccurate or incomplete tenant screening reports become a barrier to exiting homelessness. Inability to access private rental housing creates a strain on nonprofit housing providers. Repeated tenant screening costs drain tenants of the money they need for first/last month’s rent and deposits

14. How many people are impacted? In 2007, there were over 5,000 eviction cases where the tenant won in court or was not found guilty– using Census household data, that averages out to 12,800 individuals who now have damaged records creating a barrier to accessing housing. * Filing data provided by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Writ data provided by reporting county Sherriff’s offices. Household data provided by 2000 Washington State Census. Data not reported from Clallam, Cowlitz, Lincoln, Mason, and Pierce County. Joint study conducted by University of Washington, Columbia Legal Services, and Solid Ground.

15. In approximately one-third of all eviction cases in Washington, the tenant prevails or is not found guilty by a judge.

17. FTSA 2013resolves these problems by:

18. 1. Accuracy • Prohibits tenant screening companies from reporting inaccurate or misleading information in a report pertaining to domestic violence and eviction records. Specifically: • Prevents tenant screening companies from reporting a survivor’s domestic violence record and landlords from denying survivors on the basis of such records. • Prevents reporting of evictions where the tenant prevailed or was not found guilty.

19. 2. Affordability Explores options for a portable report through a third party study Continues negotiations with the tenant screening industry to create comprehensive report criteria