WA Tenants Protected from Discrimination BasedOn Source of Income

[John Boire]

I live in Washington State which is very tenant friendly.  I have read and used The Book on Managing Rental Properties as a reference and have always approached the Section 8 question from potential tenants with "income has to be from a verifiable source." as not to use any discriminating language.  However, I just found that it is now (I'm not sure when the law was passed) that you must account for the government assistance in calculating the income.  Here is the example from the site:

*Example: Maria applies for a unit renting for $1,000/month. Maria’s Section 8 Voucher will cover $600 of the rent. The landlord requires all tenants to have a monthly income that is twice the rent amount. Before, Maria’s income would have to be $2,000 to qualify for the apartment. Under this law, the landlord must subtract the voucher amount ($600) from the total rent ($1,000) before calculating if Maria’s income is enough. In this case, Maria’s portion of the rent is $400. So 2x Maria’s portion of rent = $800. Maria’s monthly income only needs to be $800 to qualify.

 We are currently trying to rent our house, which is not Section 8 approved.  If it were, our rent would be $800 less per month than the market value.  

Here is the link to the site where I found this information.

https://www.washingtonlawhelp....

I know rules and laws change all the time. I'm curious how other Washington landlords are approaching this situation?

[Matt Devincenzo]

I'd avoid even saying 'home not approved for section 8' that has become a housing violation in other states with income 'non-discrimination' criteria. I would simply list your property and proceed as normal. You already said Section 8 pays $800 less than market. You aren't required to reduce the rent to accept a Section 8 tenant, so simply list it and no one on Section 8 will qualify because the rental rate exceeds their voucher. 

Not being able to discriminate on source of income doesn't mean you have to change any of your other criteria.