The new guidance recently released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) addresses the fair and lawful use of criminal background records as part of the tenant screening process. Landlords and property managers need to take a close look at this and compare it with their current tenant screening policies. They need to be sure they don’t illegally preclude housing to individuals of a protected class. Even if the tenant application process appears to be none discriminatory on a larger scope could become a disparate impact. This is where background screening and the application process on the surface looks non-discriminatory but overall could be negatively effecting a minority.
HUD is taking this a step further and is essentially saying that housing cannot be denied to individuals with a criminal history record.
From DallasVoice.com (Apr. 04, 16):
The Department of Housing and Urban Development today (Monday, April 4) released a new policy that would eliminate housing discrimination against people with a criminal history.
(1) The new policy clarifies that using criminal history to justify a negative housing decision, such as the refusal to rent to or renew a lease for someone, or the refusal to sell to or to give someone a mortgage on a new home, may violate the Fair Housing Act. dallasvoice.com/national-lgbtq-task-force-praises-hud-guidance-targeting-discrimination-based-criminal-history-10217163.html
The availability of affordable housing is certainly a critical issue affecting many metropolis’s, cities and highly populated geographic areas within the USA. These apartments are in high demand for minorities and low income families and HUD is trying to make it easier for these people to get accepted into such an apartment. This is why HUD is trying to remove the criminal background check portion of the tenant screening process in order to give people with a criminal past a second chance. It has been shown that many individuals with a criminal history find it very difficult to reintegrate into society and are left with few options once released. It is also clear that if these ex-offenders cannot find reasonable housing the chances of recidivism increases.
The new changes by HUD will have a broad impact on the housing market and will force landlords and property managers to update their tenant screening policies to reflect the new guidance. They will have to become compliant with these new requirements and will have to bypass the criminal history screening portion of their application process. This is why it is a good idea for landlords and property managers to utilize a professional third party tenant screening company to help them remain compliant with all rules and regulations regarding the tenant screening process within the apartment rental and multi-family industry.
To learn more about the new HUD Guidance and how finding decent housing for minorities and previous criminal offenders is a big challenge in the USA and why removing the criminal background check portion of the tenant screening process can affect these individuals read recent TenantScreeningUSA.com press release.