Olympia's Land Use and Environment Committee will review potential tenant screening policy options at its meeting on Thursday, May 22, as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen renter protections and improve access to affordable housing.
The discussion follows a March 11 study session, during which the city council directed staff to present policy options for committee review before bringing an ordinance to the council, potentially in the third quarter of the year.
Olympia has been considering tenant protections since 2018. The move was prompted by a finding from the 2017 Assessment of Fair Housing.
The city's Rental Housing Code has already incorporated several protections since 2022, including limits to move-in fees, 120 days notice for rent increases over 5% and 180 days notice for increases over 10%, and a pet damage deposit capped at 25% of monthly rent.
This latest conversation centers on screening practices like criminal background checks, credit history and eviction records — factors that can affect low-income renters and members of protected classes in accessing housing.
A 2020 landlord survey by the cities of Lacey, Olympia and Tumwater—part of a regional Housing Needs Assessment—found many landlords use screening tools, such as credit checks, rental history, proof of income and criminal background checks.
Olympia's 2023 Assessment of Fair Housing found screening barriers, such as credit or criminal history, prevented about 25% of respondents from securing housing.
Advocates emphasized these practices often disproportionately affect protected class groups, including domestic violence survivors, people with disabilities, undocumented residents and voucher holders.
Though the staff noted no local data on how often tenants are rejected due to specific screening practices, the 2024 Point in Time Count showed 103 unhoused individuals needed help clearing their credit to secure housing.
"Tenant screening practices can present significant barriers to access housing opportunities, particularly for people who are low-income, formerly incarcerated individuals, and members of protected classes – such as people of color, people who were born outside the U.S., and people with disabilities," a staff report stated.
It further noted that the guidance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) warned that overly restrictive screening may violate the Fair Housing Act.
The May 22 meeting will give the committee its first formal opportunity to review policy directions and shape next steps.
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BillString
So now they want to force people to house people who can't pay AND criminals? What's next, forced renting to *** offenders? Forcing renters to turn into Section 8 and halfway houses? What a joke.
Monday, May 19 Report this
Quadlok
Credit reports never used to get pulled for rental applications, that is a very recent and completely inappropriate thing to require.
Also, if you're a landlord that doesn't want to rent to anyone with a less than ideal application, I suggest you sell your properties to someone who will and leave the business. Landlords shouldn't have any more say about who lives in their units than a supermarket has about who can buy things from them.
Monday, May 19 Report this
Brewmanchu
Anyone proposing rental property policies ought to have been a landlord at some point. Most landlords spend a great deal of time and money before ever putting their properties on the market, and many don't make any sort of a profit for a decade or so. So yes they need to be very careful about who they rent to and no governmental policy can change that. As a landlord, I have rented to people with less than steller credit and some have had legal issues, but everything is viewed as part of a bigger picture. I don't know what an "undocumented" person is, but if you mean illegal alien, no I would not rent to any person who is not in the country legally.
Monday, May 19 Report this
JulesJames
As more and more tenant screening limitations try to "solve the housing crisis", the more and more tenant selection becomes based on price. Rent goes higher and higher. No landlord wants to be the cheapest housing around when every other selection criteria is legislated away.
Monday, May 19 Report this
Boatyarddog
@ B. STRING the article says nohing about allowing "people that can't pay" should get any consideration to rent. It does mention that "Tenant screening practices can present significant barriers to access housing opportunities, particularly for people who are low-income, formerly incarcerated individuals, and members of protected classes – such as people of color, people who were born outside the U.S., and people with disabilities" that's all. Stop presenting Misinformation. They are trying to keep people from suffering homelessness. Once you've lost housing it is hard to get another situation set up.
Monday, May 19 Report this
DHanig
Screening criteria are the primary way to assure that rents will be paid. Without screening criteria, many small landlords will be unable to continue providing rental housing in Olympia. Very short-sighted policy.
Tuesday, May 20 Report this
BobJacobs
The concern about tenants' rights is appropriate, but the city's approach seems unbalanced.
Please consider that a housing provider is entrusting a significant asset to a tenant. In the case of my duplex units, that is about $200,000 worth of property for each tenant.
The accurate analogy is a bank lending $200,000 to a borrower. The bank checks the prospective borrower's background information to assure that the money will likely be repaid with interest. The interest is rent for the use of the money.
We tell our tenants up front that the most important thing we expect from tenants is proper care of the property. Even before rent.
Housing providers deserve treatment equal to banks.
Bob Jacobs
Tuesday, May 20 Report this
Freebird
Considering what recently went down in Tenino, to an older female like myself, there is no way I would welcome a formerly incarcerated person into my rental which lies 200 ft away from my home.
Tuesday, May 20 Report this
MrCommonSense
This article doesn't contain any factual information regarding how specific tenant screening barriers impact the tenant's ability to access housing. Just generalities, no concrete examples or really even speculative examples so a reader could evaluate if this is even a necessary idea to study.
It is either the lack data collection by the City or the Jolt reporter not digging to find out. Probably with a simple Google search. Other cities must have already studied this, too.
If the City is interested in making screening "looser" maybe the City should co-sign the lease after the CITY evaluates the tenant's likelihood and ability to consistently pay?
Tuesday, May 20 Report this