sad guy leaning against windowWhat is fair housing?

Fair housing is the right to choose housing free from unlawful discrimination. The federal Fair Housing Act (FHA) and Ohio laws protect people from discrimination in housing based on the following protected classes: race, color, religion, national origin, sex, familial status, disability, ancestry and military status. Discrimination is illegal in housing transactions such as rentals, sales, lending, and insurance.

How does my criminal record impact my right to housing?

On April 4, the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued “Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records,” which states that the broad exclusion of people with criminal records in the sale or rental of housing or other real estate transactions may be in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

The Fair Housing Act (FHA) prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental, or financing of housing based on race, color, religion, sex, disability, family status, or national origin. Because of the well-documented disproportionate rates of criminal justice contact in the U.S. for black and Hispanic Americans, the restriction of housing based on criminal records can consequently have a disproportionate impact on minorities, the new guidance says.

A housing policy that has a disproportionate effect on minorities may be in violation of the FHA even if there is no explicit intent to discriminate, according to the guidance. In cases where a policy disproportionately restricted housing for a minority population, even if none was intended, the burden is on the housing provider to justify the policy as necessary for a “substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest.” However, the guidance states that “arbitrary and overbroad criminal history-related bans are likely to lack a legally sufficient justification.”

HUD’s guidance on FHA compliance and the allowable use of criminal records in rental and real estate decisions comes on the heels of additional guidance related to the use of criminal records in housing decisions. In November 2015, HUD released Notice PIH 2015-19 that excludes the use of arrest records in housing decisions for public housing agencies and owners of federally assisted housing. In March 2016, HUD released a supplemental FAQ to Notice PIH 2015-19 to further clarify that an arrest itself “does not prove that a person engaged in disqualifying criminal activity, poses a threat, or otherwise violated admission standards” for public housing.