California Communities End Policy Against Renting to Anyone with Criminal Record

HUD recently announced that the owners and operators of two California communities have settled fair housing complaints alleging discrimination against prospective residents based on race and national origin.

A fair housing organization filed two complaints, alleging that its testing showed that property managers refused to rent, cited different terms and conditions, and misrepresented the availability of units to testers based on their race and national origin.

Under the settlement, the community agreed to pay $8,000 to the organization and to provide employees with fair housing training. In addition, the community agreed to amend rental qualification criteria to remove the requirement that applicants have “No Criminal or Police Record of Any Kind,” and develop and implement a nondiscriminatory criminal record policy.

“Denying someone an apartment because of how they look or where they come from not only deprives them of a home, it is against the law,” Anna María Farías, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said in a statement. “Today’s agreement reaffirms HUD’s commitment to ensuring that every person, no matter their race or national origin, has access to the housing of their choice.”