Tenant Screening in Washington

FCRA-compliant tenant screening for landlords in Washington — serving Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Bellevue and every other Washington market. Reports start at $24.99 with no subscription. Washington-specific reporting-law overlays are applied automatically before the landlord sees any record.

What landlords in Washington can include in a screening report

• Credit report and score — TransUnion VantageScore plus tradeline detail.
• Criminal background — nationwide criminal record search with Washington-specific look-back limits applied.
• Eviction / housing-court records — sealed, dismissed, and time-barred records filtered before they reach you.
• Income verification — optional payroll + bank-link verification via Pinwheel.
• AI landlord reference call — optional AI agent calls the applicant’s prior landlord and produces a structured summary.

Eviction record reporting in Washington

Washington RCW 59.18.367 caps eviction reporting at five years and requires dismissed and sealed cases be excluded.

Statutory citation: RCW 59.18.367

How reporting limits interact with what you may lawfully consider is covered in what landlords can screen for and the investigative consumer report explainer.

Criminal-record reporting in Washington

Washington Fair Tenant Screening Act limits criminal-record use; Seattle has Fair Chance in Housing.

Fair housing in Washington

The Washington Law Against Discrimination, RCW 49.60 applies in addition to the federal Fair Housing Act. Source of income is a protected class statewide in Washington — landlords may not refuse to consider an applicant solely because they intend to pay with a housing-choice voucher or similar lawful source.

Notable Washington considerations

Source of income is a protected class statewide. Seattle has additional tenant protections.

How RentalApplication.ai works for Washington landlords

1. You start a screening at rentalapplication.ai/apply. Enter the applicant’s name and email; pick the reports you want.
2. The applicant gets an email with a secure link, completes the application, and authorizes the screening (FCRA § 1681b(b)(2)).
3. The applicant pays at the moment of submission (or you can land-lord-pay).
4. Reports are delivered to you in minutes (credit) to a few hours (housing/criminal). State-law overlays are applied before the landlord sees any record.
5. If you decline based on the report, we generate the FCRA § 1681m adverse-action notice for you.

This page is an informational summary, not legal advice. State and local landlord-tenant law changes frequently — verify against current statute and local counsel before relying on this content. RentalApplication.ai is a reseller of consumer reports under FCRA § 1681a(u) and does not make tenancy decisions. The landlord (the “end user”) is the party who decides whether to approve or deny an application.