Hello everyone,
My agency has encountered two landlords in Pierce County that refuse to accept payments from our agency for rent/deposit/application fees. We are an agency that uses funds from DSHS and FCS TAP program to pay application fees, first month
rent and deposit on behalf of disabled individuals that qualify for the financial assistance in our FCS and CCG programs. We have company credit cards to make immediate payments, and a check request process in which we can give the landlord an intent to pay
letter for a check that will arrive by mail. This process works 99% of the time with landlords throughout the state. Most are very accommodating and helpful. We have not encountered a problem anywhere in the state until Fall 2022.
The two landlords claim they cannot accept payment by check or credit card, but those are the only two payment options our agency can use. They claim my agency must pay by money order, which would require my staff to have access to thousands
of dollars in cash. As a program manager, I don’t even have access to the agency’s bank account to withdraw cash. Our corporate office is based in Virginia, so checks are mailed from Virginia. We are happy to pay immediately by credit card but they claim
they do not have a credit card payment system. We offered to pay by direct bank account transfer which deposits the funds directly into their bank account, they refused this as well. Every time we explain that we do not have access to cash or money order,
they respond that people that live at their properties all paid with cash or money order, so our clients should be able to do the same if they want to live there. They imply that accepting our funding source is discrimination against disabled people who are
able to pay their own way in cash. They claim they cannot treat our applicants differently from able-bodied people that have cash on hand. They claim their lawyer told them this is legal. I have spoken to housing advocates that believe it is not legal due
to the source of income discrimination laws in WA state, but we have not been able to get a definite answer from a lawyer. NW Justice and Tacoma Pro Bono want our clients to pursue the landlord in court, but our clients are scared and not willing to do it.
I have never successfully signed up a client to pursue a landlord in court, even when they had a very clear case, and I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years. Working in mental health services, I have never found individual court cases to be a viable option.
When we tell the landlords that our agency was hired by State of Washington to pay for application fees, rent and deposit on behalf of disabled individuals and ask for reasonable accommodation, they reply that our request to accept check
or credit card is “unreasonable”. They are not able to explain why. They repeatedly state it is “against policy” or that accommodating this disabled person would treat them differently from non-disabled that did pay with a money order. They state they not
willing to change the policy to accommodate our disabled individuals who relying on financial assistance. When we claim this violates state law about income source discrimination, they claim our funding does not count as a source of income. We believe that
our financial assistance should count as a source of income same as a Section 8 voucher, SSI, etc. I believe that many agencies in this homeless coalition have been affected by these 2 landlords as well. They claim other Pierce County agencies have been
turned away too and use this as proof that they are not discriminating against our clients. They claim that they used to accept payments from agencies until one agency refused to honor an intent to pay letter, so they decided not to work with any agencies
anymore. I argued that they should pursue that agency for money owed instead of turning us away, but they claim it is legal to refuse all agency payments. I know that many rental assistance programs, including HARPS and Section 8, use intent to pay or HAP
contract to arrange payments at a later date. They know the law covers those sources of income, but they do not think it applies to application fees, first month rent and deposit.
I believe many FCS or CCG agencies serving homeless and disabled in Tacoma area are being steered away from these 2 properties. These 2 properties often have vacancies when others do not. We are very frustrated that our clients who meet
all the eligibility criteria are denied access to vacant units simply because they quailfy for financial assistance from government programs. We believe hundreds of people are being affected and would like to pursue this problem as an advocacy issue on behalf
of disabled tenants that are too fearful of going to court on an individual basis.
Andrea Kilgore, MSW, MPA, LICSW
FCS/CCG program manager
Pathways of WA, LLC
Office (509)209-8990
Fax (509) 919-4877
Cell (509)209-6300
https://www.pathwaysofwashington.com/
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