Since writing about HUD's Fair Housing Act guidelines, I have received inquiries about how to handle an applicant with a criminal conviction record in a nondiscriminatory manner.  One example is: An electronic background check reveals the applicant has a 5-year-old conviction for grand theft auto, which is a felony, so the application is denied based on the conviction only.  " A policy or practice that denies housing to anyone with a prior arrest of any kind criminal conviction cannot be justified. " says the general counsel for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development thus that property manager could be breaking the law.  The better approach is: a background check reveals the applicant has a 5-year-old conviction of grand theft auto.  The agent conducting the screeing contacts the applicant's prior landlord and finds this person evicted a month ago for not paying the rent and his employer indicated he was recently fired. With an established policy of not renting to persons with a prior eviction record, you may be justified in rejecting the application since the denial is not based solely on the conviction record.

On the other hand, the agent conducting the screening on this individual, upon learning about his conviction record, contacts the current landlord and finds this individual has paid rent on time, is a model tenant, and has a solid employment record.  Under the ACT guidelines, he should be welcome him into your community regardless of the conviction.

The ACT is confusing, thus am always available to assist those in the multi-family housing industry and working with their attorney, to establish an applicant screening program that will meet their needs and is within the guidelines of the Fair Housing Act guidelines.