Tenant background check in Washington

Once a lease is signed, you've committed to that renter, so it's worth knowing who they are first. A background check brings their credit history, criminal record, and eviction history into one view, so you're measuring every applicant using the same yardstick.

Washington law lets you review most of that information. It also adds steps federal law doesn’t require: a written notice of your criteria before you screen, a fee tied to what screening costs you, and written reasons if you say no. 

Here's what a Washington background check covers, the rules at each stage, and how to evaluate the results.

What a Washington tenant background check includes

Tenant screening usually covers three reports: credit history, criminal history, and eviction history. You can also add income verification to confirm an applicant makes what they say they do.

Credit history

A credit report shows how an applicant has handled financial obligations over time, including open accounts, payment history, outstanding balances, and collections.

You'll also see a credit score. FICO scores were designed for lending. TransUnion's ResidentScore® was built for tenant screening and gives more weight to housing-related payment behavior. RentSpree includes ResidentScore® with every screening, so the number in front of you reflects how an applicant has handled housing payments specifically.

Washington's consumer reporting law keeps some older information off the report entirely. Screening companies can't report medical debt, and most negative items, such as collections and court judgments, drop off after seven years. What you’ll see reflects how an applicant has handled bills recently.

Background check

A background check searches national records, including sex offender registries, Most Wanted lists, and the OFAC watchlist, along with local criminal court records in covered jurisdictions.

Washington limits how far back a report can go. Under state law, a screening company can't report an adult's arrest, charge, or conviction more than seven years after the case ended or the person was released or paroled. Juvenile records drop off once the person turns 21.

Statewide, Washington doesn't restrict how you weigh a criminal record. Seattle does, so if your property is in Seattle, check your local rules. We go into more city-specific detail in the compliance section below.

Local court coverage varies by jurisdiction across every screening provider, so an applicant who lived somewhere without coverage may come back clean regardless of which company runs the search. A clean report reflects the jurisdictions that were searched.

Eviction history

An eviction report shows court records from previous landlord-tenant cases, including filings, judgments, and outcomes. RentSpree's eviction reports are powered by TransUnion and pull from public court records.

Washington keeps two kinds of eviction cases out of screening reports. First, a court can order an eviction case kept off screening reports if the landlord's case lacked a basis, the tenancy was reinstated, or for other good cause. Washington calls this an order of limited dissemination. Once in place, screening companies can't report the case or use it in a score.

Second, under a state law passed in response to COVID-19, nonpayment of rent that came due between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 can’t be reported to a new landlord, and you can’t deny an applicant because of it. The same goes for an eviction case filed over unpaid rent. In Seattle, the protection extends to eviction history through April 30, 2023.

A filing tells you a case existed. Check how it was resolved before you weigh it against your criteria.

Income verification

Income verification confirms whether an applicant's income matches what they reported on their application.

A common approach is to ask for pay stubs or bank statements, but those have become easy to fabricate. According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, more than 93% of rental housing providers report experiencing fraud, and 84% of those have seen falsified pay stubs and employment and personal reference documentation.

Bank-verified income pulls deposit history directly from the applicant's financial institution through Finicity, a Mastercard company, so there's no uploaded document to alter. When you add RentSpree's income verification for $10, typically paid by the applicant, it shows you up to 18 months of deposit history.

How to run a compliant tenant background check in Washington

Federal fair housing and consumer reporting laws shape how you request and act on screening reports. Washington adds requirements at the beginning and end of the process, and a few cities add more.

Know the fair housing rules that apply

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of:

• Race
• Color
• Religion
• Sex
• National origin
• Disability
• Familial status

Washington's Law Against Discrimination adds several protected classes that can come up during screening:

• Creed
• Marital status
• Sexual orientation, including gender expression or identity
• Citizenship or immigration status
• Honorably discharged veteran or military status
• Use of a trained dog guide or service animal

Washington also protects applicants based on source of income. You can't turn down an applicant because of the source of their income, and your listing can't signal a preference. These sources may include housing vouchers, public assistance, emergency rental assistance, veterans benefits, Social Security, and other programs run by government agencies or nonprofits.

The rule also changes how you calculate your income to rent ratio. If you require income of three times the rent, for example, subtract the voucher or subsidy from the rent first, then apply your ratio to what's left. A violation can cost up to four and a half times the monthly rent, plus court costs and attorney's fees.

Tell applicants what you are looking for before you screen

Decide how you'll evaluate applications before you start accepting them. Your tenant screening criteria might cover credit score, income-to-rent ratio, and rental history.

In Washington, sharing those criteria is a legal requirement. Before you obtain any information about an applicant, you have to tell them in writing or by posting:

• What types of information you'll check
• What criteria can lead to a denial
• The name and address of the screening company, plus the applicant's right to a free copy of the report after a denial and to dispute anything inaccurate
• Whether you'll accept a comprehensive reusable tenant screening report

Skipping the notice can cost you up to $100 per applicant, plus court costs and attorneys’ fees. You also lose the right to charge for screening at all.

With RentSpree, you can share your screening criteria alongside your listing details, so applicants see the requirements before they apply.

Decide whether to accept reusable screening reports

Washington lets applicants buy their own comprehensive screening report and share it with landlords for free. In order to qualify, the report must include a credit report from the past 30 days, criminal history, eviction history, employment verification, and address and rental history.

Whether you accept these reports is your choice, but stating your choice is required. It goes in your pre-screening notice, and if you have a website advertising the rental, the statement has to appear on the property's home page. If you accept reusable reports, you can still run your own screening, as long as the applicant isn't charged for it, in which case you should switch your preference in your RentSpree dashboard to landlord paid.

Set your screening fee

Washington doesn't set a dollar cap on screening fees. You can charge what screening costs you, though only after you've provided the applicant with the pre-screening notice. If you screen applicants yourself instead of using a screening company, your charge can't exceed what screening services in your area typically charge.

Screening through RentSpree costs $39.99 per applicant for credit, background, and eviction reports, or $49.99 with bank-verified income verification. Applicants typically pay the fee, but you can choose to cover it yourself instead. Some jurisdictions limit or prohibit passing screening costs to applicants, so check your local rules.

Applicants screening through RentSpree can also add a Reusable Screening Package for $15 at checkout. For the next 30 days, they can apply to more RentSpree listings without paying another screening fee, up to five applications a day, and their saved application fills in automatically. Renters often apply to several places at once, so a listing that saves them repeat fees is an easier one to apply to. For you, that can mean more applicants to choose from. This is separate from the state's comprehensive reusable report described above.

Get written consent before screening

Get the applicant’s permission before ordering reports. It’s standard practice, and screening companies require it. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act also requires a permissible purpose for pulling a consumer report: here, evaluating a rental application you received. With RentSpree, you confirm that purpose before any reports are generated.

Follow city rules if your rental is in Seattle or Olympia

Washington's statewide rules apply everywhere. Several local jurisdictions add their own rules. Two that change how you screen are Seattle and Olympia.

Seattle: criminal history. Seattle's Fair Chance Housing Ordinance lets you run a background check and ask about criminal history, but you can't require an answer or turn someone down based on what you find. A 2023 court ruling made asking legal again, but the ban on acting on criminal history still stands. The main exception is an adult conviction that places someone on a sex offender registry. Even then, you have to weigh specific factors before denying, including:

• The nature and severity of the conviction
• How much time has passed
• The person's age at the time
• Their tenant history
• Any information they provide about rehabilitation or circumstances

If you deny based on registry information, you have to tell the applicant in writing which registry information led to your decision. Every application for a Seattle rental also has to include notice language set out in the ordinance. The rule doesn't apply to an owner-occupied single-family home, or to an accessory dwelling unit or backyard cottage when the owner lives on the property.

Since most criminal history can't factor into a Seattle decision, you can leave the criminal report out of your RentSpree screening package when you set up the request.

Seattle: first-in-time. Seattle also requires you to screen applications in the order you receive them. Before accepting applications, share your criteria and the minimum threshold for each, plus everything an applicant needs to submit. Note the date and time each completed application arrives, then screen them one at a time in that order. If an otherwise complete application is missing something, give the applicant at least 72 hours to provide it. Offer the unit to the first applicant who meets all your criteria, and give them 48 hours to respond before you move on to the next person in line.

Olympia: income and identification. Since April 1, 2026, Olympia landlords can ask for a Social Security number but can't require one, and have to accept other proof of identity and finances. Income requirements are capped at two and a half times the rent, calculated after subtracting any voucher, counting all applicants' income together. If an applicant falls short, you can ask for a co-signer or guarantor, and you have to let them show a history of paying rent on time.

Review all reports together

Look at each applicant as a whole, and apply the same criteria to everyone. Use a tenant screening checklist to keep the process consistent from one application to the next.

Send a denial notice that states your reasons

If a screening report leads you to deny an application, or to offer less favorable terms such as a higher deposit or a co-signer requirement, federal law requires you to notify the applicant. Washington requires that notice to be in writing. Under federal law, the notice must:

• Name the screening company that provided the report, with its address and phone number
• Say that the company didn’t make the decision and can’t explain why it was made
• Explain the applicant’s right to a free copy of the report if they ask within 60 days, and their right to dispute anything inaccurate
• If a credit score played a part, include the score, where it came from, the scoring range, the date it was created, and the main factors behind it

Washington’s rules go further. State law requires your notice to state the reasons for the decision, in a format similar to a form written into the law. The state form covers a rejection and approvals with conditions, such as a higher deposit, a guarantor, last month’s rent, or higher rent. It asks you to mark what the decision was based on: a screening report, a thin credit file, rental history or references, a criminal record, a civil record, or employment verification.

How to evaluate your Washington tenant background check results

Once the reports come back, measure what you see against the criteria you shared before screening.

What to look for in the credit report

The score is a starting point. Consider payment history, outstanding balances, collections, and whether any problems are recent or are from a long time ago. Medical debt won't appear on a Washington report, so a file without it isn't missing anything (though federal regulators have said federal law preempts it, so this may change).

What to look for in criminal and eviction records

How a case ended matters more than the filing. A charge means a case was filed, a conviction means a finding of guilt, and a dismissed case is neither. The same holds for eviction filings.

Washington has no statewide restriction, but Seattle and some other local jurisdictions do. You should apply your written criteria the same way to every applicant, and look at the nature of an offense, how serious it was, and how long ago it happened. The federal Fair Housing Act still applies to criminal history policies that affect protected groups unevenly.

In Seattle, set criminal history aside unless it's adult sex offender registry information, and work through the city's factors before acting on it.

For eviction records, check how the case ended. A case that shows up despite a court order keeping it off reports, or one based on nonpayment during the moratorium period, isn't something you can use.

What to look for in income verification

Bank-verified income gives you more reliable information than uploaded documents. Review the size and consistency of deposits against the income criteria you shared up front. A steady pattern across 18 months tells you something a single month can't. If the applicant uses a voucher, compare their income to their share of the rent.

If you're reviewing uploaded documents instead, compare figures across pay stubs and bank statements and look for details that don't line up. A well-made fake pay stub can pass that check, since generators now produce correct math and realistic withholdings. With bank-verified income through RentSpree, deposit history arrives straight from the applicant's bank, so there's no document to second-guess.

Screen Washington tenants from application to decision

Washington law lets you review most of what a screening report shows. In exchange, it asks you to show your work: your criteria before you screen, a fee that matches your cost, and your reasons in writing when you say no.

RentSpree handles those steps in one place. Share your criteria alongside your listing, then collect applications and screening consent. Pull TransUnion credit, background, and eviction reports, and add bank-verified income so the income figure behind your decision comes straight from the bank. Accept, conditionally accept, or deny applicants from your dashboard. If you turn someone down, RentSpree builds the denial notice from the reasons you pick.

RentSpree is free for landlords and agents to get started. Screening costs $39.99 per applicant, or $49.99 with bank-verified income added, and is typically paid by the applicant. Landlords can choose to cover it instead. Some jurisdictions limit or prohibit passing the fee along, so check your local rules.

Frequently asked questions