OLYMPIA - Families and individuals paying for applications for rental housing will have the right to know what the screening process seeks, what that screening finds and who reports the findings to potential landlords under a bill unanimously approved today by the Washington State Senate.

Under guidelines set by Senate Bill 6315, landlords accepting application payments from prospective renters must disclose what types of information will be included in the final reports, the types of blemishes that may result in the denial of the application and the name and address of the screening agency so that they can make corrections to erroneous information.

“This was a hard-fought compromise that has the support of both tenants and landlords,” said Sen. David Frockt. “It’s a good step forward on this issue. It doesn’t resolve all the issues, but if it becomes law, we will have a stakeholder group to continue working on remaining issues surrounding portability, cost and content.”

“This is a real issue for tenants, especially low-income tenants seeking to get into rental housing,” said Frockt. “I am exceptionally pleased we had such bipartisan support on the bill.”

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives.

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For more information: Ian Cope, Senate Democratic Caucus, 360-786-7535

For interviews: Sen. David Frockt, 360-786-7690