On April 9, 2024, the Los Angeles City Council voted to reactivate a motion to establish a Fair Chance Housing Ordinance that would affect tenant screening in the city by “prohibiting landlords from inquiring about prospective tenants’ criminal history,” according to a report from FOX 11 News in Los Angeles, California, and City News Service.
FOX 11 News and City News Service reported that the ordinance would “prohibit landlords from, at any time or by any means, whether direct or indirect, inquire about an applicant’s criminal history or requiring an applicant to disclose criminal history” when an applicant is applying for an apartment or other types of housing in the City of Los Angeles.
In addition, FOX 11 News and City News Service reported that the proposed ordinance would prevent landlords from using criminal history “to outright deny an applicant” and also “would also incorporate a private right of action for prospective renters, meaning if a landlord could face fines for discriminating based on a tenant’s record.”
Other cities in California such as Oakland and Berkeley have already implemented similar housing laws, FOX 11 News and City News Service reported. “We must follow the lead of cities like Oakland, Berkeley, and Seattle and prohibit the use of criminal background checks when evaluating rental applications for housing,” the original motion to establish the ordinance noted.
“Angelenos with past criminal histories often face insurmountable barriers to housing and are routinely screened out when applying to rent housing due to criminal background checks in private rental, nonprofit affordable housing, and public housing units,” according to the motion, which now heads to the Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee for consideration.
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Thomas Ahearn - Digital Content Editor
Thomas Ahearn is a Digital Content Editor at ClearStar, a leading Human Resources technology company specializing in background checks, drug testing, and occupational health screening. He writes about a variety of topics in the background screening industry including Artificial Intelligence (AI), "Ban the Box," class action lawsuits, credit reports, criminal records, drug testing, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), identity theft, privacy, social media screening, and workplace violence.
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