[WSBARP] 59.18.255: Publishing source of Income limitation?

[Brian Andrews]

Good afternoon, colleagues:



Question re 59.18.255. Under (2) a "landlord may not publish, circulate, issue, or display, or cause to be published, circulated, issued, or displayed, any communication, notice, advertisement, or sign of any kind relating to the rental or lease of real property that indicates a preference, limitation, or requirement based on any source of income."



Well, my LL client can't pass inspection for Sec 8 for a property and has an estimate for the necessary work for $1600. That is $100 more than the baseline requirement under (1)(a) of the statute, which states that a LL doesn't have to spend more than $1500 to pass the housing inspection.



So does that mean that my client cannot put a notice on the website for that unit alone stating that it is not Section 8 eligible? I think it does. I also think it may bar my client from even telling prospective tenants on the phone that it is Sec 8 ineligible. Which seems ridiculous. Many of the prospective tenants don't have computers and it's going to be wasting their time. So my client would have to tell their prospective tenants that they're qualified, and then at the end of the process tell them it won't work out.



That seems so stupid. Please tell me that this is not the required result under the law.


Brian H. Andrews, Attorney at Law
brian at hawklaw.biz<mailto:brian at hawklaw.biz>
Hawkins Law, PLLC
Phone 509-529-5175 / Fax 509-529-2564
2225 Isaacs, Suite A/ Walla Walla, WA 99362

Visit our website at hawklaw.biz<http://www.hawklaw.biz/>.

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