Legislation that would curtail a landlord’s ability to check a prospective tenant’s criminal background before signing a lease gained momentum this week in the California Assembly.
AB 369 by Assemblyman Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, now heads to the Appropriations Committee after passing the Committee of Housing and Community Development on Wednesday by a 4-to-2 vote.
The author has cited four goals with AB 396:
- To reduce recidivism rates by providing stable housing.
- To keep families together.
- To prevent homelessness.
- To prohibit unfair discrimination that is based upon reasons that have no bearing on the success of a tenancy.
Reginald Jones-Sawyer
The bill advanced despite opposition from the California Apartment Association, which will continue to fight the bill.
The proposal would prohibit a landlord from asking a prospective tenant about any criminal record in the “initial application assessment phase.” In this period, the landlord would be allowed to inquire only about an applicant’s credit and rental history. After the initial phase, the landlord could run a criminal background check and consider the results in deciding whether to enter a lease with the tenant. The bill as currently written, however, requires a landlord to wait 14 days before rejecting an applicant who has a criminal history. The intent of the waiting period is to give the applicant the opportunity to provide proof of rehabilitation.
A landlord who still decides to deny the applicant would have to provide written explanation to the applicant. The landlord could not deny tenancy based on arrests that did not result in conviction, convictions that were voided, and juvenile records.venile records.
