Criminal Legal System Involvement

FAIR HOUSING AND CRIMINAL LEGAL SYSTEM INVOLVEMENT

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Under both federal and state law, it can be illegal for a housing provider to deny housing based on a prospective or current tenant’s previous involvement with the criminal legal system (“CLS”). 

 

The New York State Human Rights Law (HRL) expressly prohibits housing providers from inquiring about or denying housing based upon:

• Arrests or criminal accusations resolved in an individual’s favor or adjourned in contemplation of dismissal;

• Sealed convictions; and 

• Youthful offender adjudications. 

 

The HRL also explicitly provides that anyone asked an unlawful question about such records can answer as though such arrest, conviction, or adjudication never occurred. 

 

Beyond the HRL’s categorical prohibitions against the adverse use of certain specified types of criminal records, both the HRL and the federal Fair Housing Act prohibit overbroad criminal record screening policies that disproportionately deny housing to individuals of a certain race, national origin, or other protected class. For example, a blanket ban on all individuals with a criminal record would be discriminatory. Instead, housing providers should conduct an individualized assessment that takes into consideration the nature of the offense, the time since conviction, and the individual’s behavior in the intervening time.

 

Additionally, fair housing laws prohibit housing providers from using criminal records as a pretext for discrimination based on a protected characteristic, for example by denying housing to a Black applicant with a criminal record while renting to a White applicant with a similar criminal record. 

 

Individuals with CLS involvement who apply to housing funded by New York State are afforded additional protections from being denied based on their criminal record.

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If you feel you have been denied housing opportunity due to criminal legal system involvement, please call us at 315-471-0420 or email us at info@cnyfairhousing.org​​​​​

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