City of Seattle
Council Bill No: 119015, Version 3
Chapter 14.09
A word from our General Manager
We live in an ever changing world! There will be some new challenges right around the corner regarding the reporting of criminal records for tenant screening. We just never know what may happen to the industry that we care so much about. As you may or may not be aware, the City of Seattle Council and Mayor has recently met and are very close to adopting a new ordinance regarding regulating the use of criminal history in rental housing.
While Alliance 2020 understands that this may affect whom you are renting to, we also want you to know that we are here to help you navigate this possibly uncomfortable new process. Instead of our team and us as a company reacting to what is coming, we are being proactive!! We will make every effort to keep you well informed with upcoming changes and when they will occur. Our compliance team and management staff as well as our court researchers will ensure that we have put the necessary process and polices into place in order to fulfill the requirements set forth.
You might be asking yourself what this all means. We have taken the “remain a quality company, delivering a quality report” approach; thus, you will only see a difference in what is being reported back to you. Yes, we will be strongly encouraging you to make sure you are making every attempt to verify landlord and employment history including income as well as review the credit history of the prospective tenant. Our verification team is ready to help you with this process.
Alliance 2020 is on top of this hot topic and will have an FAQ to you very soon. As you can already imagine, we are sure that with the new change in regulation, there will be several questions by our clients as well as property owners regarding the criminal portion of this change. Let me be clear, we will be reviewing all existing applications, criteria as well as conducting a sex offender search so that we provide quality, compliant and accurate information back to you!
