A controversial bill prohibiting NYC landlords from performing criminal background checks on prospective tenants – even those convicted of murder and other heinous crimes – is on a fast track to becoming law.
At least 30 of the City Council’s 51 members have agreed to back the “Fair Chance for Housing Act,” which is set to go before the Council’s Committee on Civil Rights for its first public hearing on Dec. 8th. Although there are still hoops to jump through, with the City Counsel support and Mayor Adams pledging to sign the bill into law, it seems as though it is inevitable.
The law doesn’t prohibit landlords from checking New York’s sex offender registry regarding prospective tenants. But the bill’s current language leaves landlords vulnerable to renting to people who committed sex crimes in other states because out-of-state sex offender registries are not addressed. The bill also doesn’t affect New York City Housing Authority complexes and doesn’t apply to two-family homes or homeowners renting out single rooms.
As for coops which are essentially landlords to their proprietary lessee tenants, the law seems to apply to them so far. So using criminal background checked to vet purchasers may not be allowed if the law passes. Condos on the other hand are not landlords/tenants, unless they own units for rent, and as such would not fall within the law, leaving condo boards in a position to continue criminal background checks. This is not law yet, but on the horizon.
