How to file your complaints

These are the steps owners in our group have taken. Filing is free, and complaints that reference each other are more useful to investigators than complaints filed in isolation. This is general information, not legal advice.

1. Washington State Department of Licensing (regulates real estate firms)

• Create a SecureAccess Washington (SAW) account at secureaccess.wa.gov, add the service "DOL Professional and Business Licensing," then choose File a Complaint → Real Estate at professions.dol.wa.gov.
• Alternatively, complete DOL's Business and Professions Complaint form and email it with your documents to dolbpdcomplaints@dol.wa.gov.
• Write a chronological, factual narrative: your agreement date, what your agreement required, what was collected, what was not distributed, your written demands, and the response (or lack of one). Attach documents as files (the DOL cannot open links).
• Join the owner group (form on this site) to receive our detailed filing guide and template.

2. Washington State Attorney General — Consumer Protection

• File at atg.wa.gov/file-complaint. You can reuse the same factual narrative.
• The AG's office tracks patterns of complaints against a business; individual complaints also support any broader consumer-protection review.

3. Seattle Police Department

• The Seattle Police Department has asked that each affected owner file their own individual report — reports cannot be filed on behalf of a group.
• Owners in our group are filing by phone through SPD's non-emergency line, (206) 625-5011, rather than the online system (which is designed for incidents with no known follow-up information). When the menu answers, press option 8 to reach the right person to start your report. Have your dates, amounts, and any complaint case numbers ready when you call.

Keep your records

Before anything else: export or screenshot your owner statements, ledgers, and agreements from the Dwellings owner portal while you still have access, and back them up. Records showing rent collected and distributions not made are the core of every filing above.

For the group's full step-by-step guide, complaint template, and coordination spreadsheet, submit the form on the Report your situation page and the organizers will email it to you.