Seattle set to prevent landlords from considering applicants’ criminal records. Seattle landlords would be almost completely prohibited from screening prospective tenants based on their criminal histories, under a proposed ordinance approved by a City Council committee Tuesday.
The only people who could be denied housing based on their criminal histories would be those listed on sex-offender registries because of adult convictions.
And landlords denying housing to such sex offenders would still need to state a legitimate business reason for doing so.
Not to worry. The landlords will figure out a way around the law. Haven’t they done that in California by using everything other than the sex offender registry to deny registrants?
While it has good intentions, it still isn’t enough. The problem is they concentrate on sexual crimes, but totally ignore all of the other acts of violence directed towards kids AND adults. Gang members, wife/kid beaters ok, sexual crimes, not so much.
The problem is that the registry isn’t considered punishment and is also considered public record. Being on the registry itself isn’t a “criminal record” and likely legally excluded from being covered under the proposed law.
This is discrimination, and if there’s no reason to exclude registrants from renting and getting a place to live. The reason why they won’t want to allow registrants to rent is because of these notifications being in the hands of weak minded individuals and they’ll squeal around to the public about a tenant being RSO that’s going to do something real bad and create hysteria, to humiliate and harass a registrant.
“The only people who could be denied housing based on their criminal histories would be those listed on sex-offender registries because of adult convictions.”
Of course, exclude the group with the lowest re-offense rate. No one will complain about that, will they?
Hmm….. If you run a criminal background check on me it comes back clean…. 20 years ago was my last criminal offence….. But the registry isn’t punitive it’s civil…. So how does a civil notification get one denied housing…. It’s that wink wink BS…. It’s civil (Wink wink) not punitive. The last background check I had done on me was when I got my last job…. Nothing came back on the criminal background but a short sentence saying potential match on the registry…. Tell me why that comes up in a background check…… Because it’s flipping punitive that’s why!
There are say 400+ something comments from landlords saying what a bad idea this is, and not for the reasons we like. Does anyone feel like commenting there? I am for some reason having a hard time thinking of something to say.