Lead Law FAQ: What is the law concerning rent suitability certificates?

Written By Adam K

We are regularly receiving questions regarding the new Lead Law and have created a weekly “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) forum for you as you desire to become more informed of the Lead Law and its complexity.

 

This week we are featuring a common question:

 

Question:  What is the law concerning rent suitability certificates? 

 

Answer:  For any new tenant (or lease renewal) a landlord is required to obtain a “rent suitability certificate” and it should be included in the leasing package. This is important to ensure that this certificate is obtained because If the landlord has to evict a tenant and DOES NOT have this rent suitability certificate, the Municipal Court will not allow the landlord to collect any rent in arrears. 

 This is a costly mistake many landlords make and avoiding it can save your clients thousands of dollars if done during the leasing signing process. A rent suitability certificate is available on Eclipse (L&I system) on the home page (bottom left side).

 

And just a reminder, the next set of ZIP code implementation for the lead law is upon us per below:

 

The following are the next set of ZIP codes (Phase 4) that are due starting April 1, 2022 (through September 30, 2022)

 

19103            19106            19111            19114            19115            19116            19123            19136            19147           

19149            19150            19152            

19154

Adam K
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