HUD Threatens To Sue Landlords Who Screen For Felons

[Idaho Kid]

The Obama administration has just made it easier for felons to move in next door. Landlords who don't want tenants who are going to mug their neighbors or deal drugs will now be treated as racists and potentially sued.


HUD Threatens To Sue Landlords Who Screen Tenants For Felonies
HUD Director Julian Castro's latest plan: To go after landlords who dare to screen tenants for criminal backgrounds. (AP)

Crime: The Obama administration has just made it easier for felons to move in next door. Landlords who don't want tenants who are going to mug their neighbors or deal drugs will now be treated as racists and potentially sued.

Last week, the Department of Housing and Urban Development issued new guidelines to landlords, warning that bans against renters with criminal convictions violate the Fair Housing Act because they disproportionately affect minorities.

In effect, the Obama regime is now outlawing criminal background checks for apartment rentals, even though such screening is critical for the protection and security of tenants and property, and serves a legitimate business need.

In a newly released 10-page missive, HUD warns landlords they can be held liable for discrimination if they deny housing over criminal records.

"HUD will use the full force of the law to protect the fair housing rights of folks who've been arrested or who're returning to their communities after serving time in jail or prison," HUD Secretary Julian Castro warned.

By "full force," he means the "disparate impact" theory of civil-rights enforcement, which HUD claims is written into the Fair Housing Act even though the phrase appears nowhere in the statute.

More at http://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/hud-threatens-to-sue-landlords-who-screen-tenants-for-felonies/

HUD  Director Julian Castro (who passes himself off as a married man with children)

[Christopher Marlowe]

I think this HUD rule would be very easy to challenge. A property owner's rights are being trampled by a HUD code that doesn't explicitly mention "felons" as protected persons?

I haven't researched this at all, so I am not sure whether this would be challenged under the 5th amendment (right against government takings without compensation) or under 1st amendment (freedom of association).  The stronger case would lie with the property owner because convicted felons are seen by the courts as having lost some rights. The states routinely take away gun privileges, and some felons have strikes or are put on sex-crime lists. 

The states also offer the opportunity to expunge the criminal record for most crimes. An expungement allows an ex-felon to legally say that he has never been convicted (unless he is seeking a license or employment with the state.) Therefore anyone who wants to avoid being excluded from a property, in most cases, can simply seek an expungement.  I don't think it is likely that the government will be able to prove that the burden for an ex-felon to seek an expungement is so great that a property owner should not be able to exclude him.