Olympia officials consider limiting the information landlords can use to screen tenants
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Olympia staff proposed tenant screening reforms to reduce discriminatory barriers.
- Recommendations target criminal, credit and rental history screening practices.
- Landlords expressed concern; majority want policies ensuring tenant reliability.
The city of Olympia is considering limiting the information landlords can use to screen tenants.
The Land Use and Environment Committee’s meeting on May 22 focused on how to make tenant screening policies less restrictive.
Christa Lenssen, senior Housing Program specialist, said staff has recommended policies that limit the use of criminal, credit and rental history, as well as the use of social security numbers in tenant screening.
“These proposals do not ban tenant screening, but set some guidelines so that screening practices are not overly restrictive,” she said.
Lenssen said legal precedent has established that policies or practices that may be neutral at face value but have a discriminatory impact may violate fair housing laws, which is known as disparate impact liability.
“Case law has supported that having overly restrictive criminal history screening policies has a disparate impact on Black, Indigenous and people of color due to disparities in the criminal justice system,” Lenssen said.
She said in 2017 the Washington State Attorney General’s Office investigated and brought charges against several property management companies that had blanket policies against renting to people convicted of felonies.
Lenssen said there have been recent attempts to dismantle legal protections, decrease funding and eliminate Fair Housing advocacy organizations. She said on April 23, President Trump signed an executive order to eliminate the use of disparate impact liability in federal and state law.
“There’s been a reduction in funding for fair housing agencies and enforcement,” she said. “And so given the current political climate... this is why staff has recommended some policies that would not entirely replace these protections, but rather be complimentary and would provide additional assurance to residents that they’re not going to be unfairly rejected.”
Lenssen said staff learned about barriers in the tenant screening process through the city’s fair housing assessment and in the rental housing public engagement process.
She said 87% of tenants were very or somewhat supportive of a policy to limit what types of tenant screening may be conducted.
About 25% of respondents in the fair housing assessment stated that application or screening barriers stand in the way of meeting their housing goals.
Lenssen said some community members described their personal experiences with barriers to housing.
“Some examples they cited were a partner running up credit card debt, leaving them off a lease agreement so they can’t establish rental history, or other things that impact their credit or rental history,” she said.
“Community members who have disabilities often face medical debt or they have a gap in their income from the time that they stop working until the time that they receive their disability benefits, and that can have a negative impact on their credit.”
The city also received feedback from landlords, the majority of whom said they want screening policies that ensure a tenant can pay their rent, won’t pose a safety risk to other tenants or neighbors, and will take care of the property.
She said about 53% of landlords who were surveyed were either not at all supportive or not very supportive of the city’s policy concepts. About 25% were very or somewhat supportive.
Lenssen said Olympia, Lacey and Tumwater conducted a landlord survey in late 2020 as part of the regional housing needs assessment. Through that, staff learned that about 55% of landlords use a credit check to screen potential tenants, and 53% screen tenants’ rental history.
About 40% of landlords reported that they complete criminal history checks.
Policy recommendations
Criminal history
According to city documents, staff recommend that landlords not be allowed to reject tenants based on criteria that may not be relevant to their current situation. That includes arrests or charges that didn’t result in a criminal conviction, convictions that occurred 5 to 7 years prior to their application, and convictions that have been sealed, expunged or dismissed.
The list also includes convictions for conduct that is no longer illegal in Washington, as well as convictions adjudicated by the juvenile justice system, and/or participation in a diversion program.
The city is considering allowing landlords to screen for older convictions that are associated with specific offenses, such as the manufacture of methamphetamine in a rental property, arson of a rental property and violent offenses against a landlord or other tenants, or offenses that require a tenant to register as a sex offender.
Staff is recommending the city consider exempting owner-occupied properties from the screening limitations, which is a step Seattle has taken.
Credit history
Staff recommend that landlords be prohibited from rejecting tenants solely for having no credit history or insufficient credit history. They also recommend that landlords not be permitted to consider medical or education/vocational training debt.
Landlords might also be prohibited from rejecting applicants based on their credit score or credit history if they pay their rent using a Housing Choice Voucher or have a co-signer who has guaranteed their rent payments.
Staff also recommend that landlords provide a written explanation for denying an applicant and give the applicant an opportunity to provide additional information. Similar to the City of Philadelphia, Olympia could prohibit landlords from automatically denying an applicant because their credit score is below a certain numerical threshold.
Rental history
Staff recommend that landlords not be allowed to take adverse action based on certain rental history criteria. The list includes evictions where the tenant prevailed, evictions that were withdrawn, settled or dismissed, and evictions where an order of limited dissemination, or a lack of information, was entered. Judgments against the tenant that have been satisfied and no-fault evictions are on the list of recommendations as well.
Social Security number
City staff recommend adopting similar measures to the cities of Tacoma and Portland, which prohibit landlords from rejecting applicants if they do not provide a Social Security number or inquiring about an applicant’s lawful presence in the U.S.
The recommendation is that alternative documentation be allowed to verify the identity and financial eligibility of an applicant. Examples of those documents include a birth certificate, driver’s license, individual Tax Payer Identification Number (ITIN), non-immigrant visa, or Certificate of Naturalization (INS I-550).
This story was originally published May 27, 2025 at 2:20 PM.
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