April 1st 2008
Landlord Immunity for Renting to Ex-Offenders
Washington law provides landlords with civil immunity for the criminal conduct of ex-offenders if the landlord discloses to other residents that the landlord rents or has a policy of renting to offenders and the landlord takes steps to report or halt criminal activity if the landlord has actual knowledge of criminal activity.
The immunity provision is part of a law addressing criminal recidivism that went into effect last year.
The immunity is of dubious value to landlords as no landlord is likely for obvious business reasons to want to disclose to other residents that the landlord has a practice of renting to convicted criminals.
