House bill would prevent landlords from denying housing based on criminal records
Washington lawmakers are considering legislation that would prevent landlords and property managers in the state from denying rental properties to those with arrest or conviction records.
The House bill introduced by Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Lynnwood, has 10 other Democratic sponsors. The bill had a public hearing Tuesday in the Housing, Human Services & Veterans Committee, where 72 people were signed up to testify.
Davis, whose background is in behavioral health, said the vast majority of people who would benefit from the legislation are those who are in recovery for mental illness or substance abuse. She said many of them end up in the legal system to begin with because of untreated behavioral health needs.
Return of symptoms can be exacerbated by housing instability, Davis noted. She said she’s spoken to landlords who say the bill isn’t necessary because they already allow tenants with records to rent from them.
“That’s true for some landlords and that is laudable,” Davis said. “If landlords universally employed this practice, we wouldn’t be here this morning asking this committee to recognize that people are more than their worst moments.”
Committee member Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, who owns Hometown Property Management, countered, “I completely agree that people in recovery who are working through all that absolutely need housing. Unfortunately there’s the other side of the spectrum when it comes to housing.”
He said because this is a broader bill, it’s important to know the data behind it and what percentages of people would actually be affected.
Some of those in support testified.
Chanel Rhymes, Director of Advocacy for the Northwest Community Bail Fund, is a formerly incarcerated single mother who is now a college graduate. She spoke in favor of the legislation and explained how difficult it was for her to find housing after she was released.
“Please stop forcing children into housing insecurity,” Rhymes said. “When people with criminal convictions are forced into decades-long years of poverty, it’s ultimately their children who suffer.”
Several landlords testified against the legislation.
Audrey Riddle from Goodman Real Estate in Seattle is opposed because she has seen a similar law at work. In 2017, Seattle passed legislation that prevents landlords from discriminating against tenants with a past criminal history. Like the proposed state legislation, Seattle code prevents landlords from advertising properties with language that “automatically or categorically excludes people with arrest records, conviction records, or criminal history.”
Riddle said she believes the inability to screen for past criminal history has “directly impacted” communities in Seattle. She said that at one of their properties an individual with an outstanding warrant that predated their application stabbed someone at the property.
Overall, she claimed only 1 percent of applicants are turned down for housing because of past convictions. She encouraged legislators to follow guidelines issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD guidelines suggest that landlords and property managers take a more individualized approach to screening applicants by considering the specific circumstances of an individual’s criminal history. However, the organization acknowledges that blanket policies which deny people housing based on past records do not serve a legitimate purpose.
HUD also noted that over 100 million of U.S. adults, or nearly one-third of the population, have a “criminal record of some sort.” The report said that even those who were convicted of crimes but not incarcerated face “significant barriers to securing housing, including public and other federally subsidized housing because of their criminal history.”
Additionally, because African-Americans and Hispanics are arrested at a disproportionate rate, they are more likely to encounter barriers to secure housing.
If passed, HB 2017 would go into effect 90 days after the legislature adjourns.
This story was originally published January 27, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
