Remember All Those ‘Extra’ Landlord/Tenant Regulations from Last Year? Here is What Is Still in Effect.
/What Landlords Can Do:
Charge late fees for rent* that came due on or after January 1, 2022.
Report a tenant’s nonpayment of rent that occurred on or after January 1, 2022 to a prospective landlord.
Report an eviction action based on nonpayment of rent brought against the tenant that was brought on or after January 1, 2022 to a prospective landlord.
Reject a tenant based on nonpayment of rent or an eviction which occurred on or after January 1, 2022.
Regardless of when unpaid rent accrued:
Attempt to collect debt through a collection agency.
Apply a security deposit to past due rent.
Report debt to credit bureaus.
What Landlords Cannot Do:
Charge late fees for rent that came due between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.
Report a tenant’s nonpayment of rent that occurred between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 to a prospective landlord.
Report an eviction action based on nonpayment of rent brought against the tenant that was between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 to a prospective landlord.
Reject a tenant based on nonpayment of rent or an eviction which occurred between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021.
What Landlords Must Do:
Landlords must offer tenants a “reasonable schedule” for repayment before filing an eviction action for all unpaid rent accrued between March 1, 2020 and the end of the “Public Health Emergency.”
The “Public Health Emergency” ends whenever Governor Inslee’s proclamation 20-05, declaring a state of emergency due to COVID-19, ends. It has been in place since February 29, 2020 – there is no clear end date on the horizon.
* For these purposes, Rent includes utilities. Landlords are no longer prohibited from pursuing collection or eviction actions based on nonpayment of utilities.