A.D. Cantelmo Property Management
Our Business is Property Management in Orange County California
HUD Tells Landlords to Give Ex-Cons
a Chance
Private landlords cannot implement
blanket bans on would-be renters with an arrest or criminal record. If so, they
are in violation of the Fair Housing Act and can face penalties or a lawsuit
for discrimination, according to the Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
HUD Secretary Julián Castro issued
guidance on Monday, April 4, 2016, about how fair housing laws apply to those
with criminal records. While the group is not explicitly protected by the Fair
Housing Act, there are certain circumstances that landlords must follow when
screening possible tenants.
When an applicant has a conviction,
property owners must prove that the exclusion is justified, HUD notes. HUD’s
guidance reads: “Policies that exclude persons based on criminal history must
be tailored to serve the housing provider’s substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory
interest and take into consideration such factors as the type of the crime and
the length of the time since conviction.”
“Right now, many housing providers
use the fact of a conviction, any conviction, regardless of what it was for or
how long ago it happened, to indefinitely bar folks from housing
opportunities,” Castro said in a statement. “Many people who are coming back to
neighborhoods are only looking for a fair chance to be productive members, but
blanket policies like this unfairly deny them that chance.”
The guidance emphasizes to landlords
that “blanket bans” are illegal. HUD says that landlords may need to revise
their screening policies in light of the new guidance.
Source: “Federal Housing Officials
Warn Against Blanket Bans of Ex-Offenders,” The New York Times
A.D. Cantelmo Property
Management Specializes in Property Management in Orange County
Ca.