May 2018 Bar Bulletin
By Julie Renner
In a victory for a group of Seattle landlords, a King County Superior Court judge granted plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in a case challenging Seattle Municipal Code Section 14.08.050, commonly referred to as the First-in-Time (“FIT”) rule.
The FIT Rule
All tenants in Washington are protected against discrimination because of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex, gender, the presence of children, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status and military/veteran status. Fair housing laws in Washington are governed by the federal Fair Housing Act1 and the Washington Law Against Discrimination.2 However, on January 1, 2017, additional protections were mandated for applicants...