Criminal History-Based Housing Policies and Practices
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| Do's | Don'ts |
| Create tailored criminal history-based policies/practices. | Don’t create arbitrary or overly-broad criminal history-based policies/practices. |
| Be sure to have clear, specific reasoning for the criminal history-based policy/practice that can be supported by evidence. | Don't maintain a policy/practice, or any portion thereof, that does not serve a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest. |
| Exclude individuals only based on criminal convictions that present a demonstrable risk to resident safety or property. | Don’t create exclusions based on arrest records alone. |
| Consider the nature and severity of an individual’s conviction before excluding the individual based on the conviction. | Don't create a blanket exclusion of any person with any conviction record. |
| Consider the amount of time that has passed since the criminal conduct occurred. | Don't provide inconsistent explanations for the denial of a housing application. |
| Consider criminal history uniformly, regardless of an individual’s inclusion in a protected class. | Don't use criminal history as a pretext for unequal treatment of individuals of a protected class. |
| Treat all applicants for housing equally, regardless of protected characteristics. | Don't use comparable criminal history differently for individuals of protected classes. |
| Conduct individualized assessments that take into account mitigating factors, such as facts and circumstances surrounding the criminal conduct, age at the time of the conduct, evidence of good tenancy before/after conduct, and rehabilitative efforts. | Don't make exceptions to a policy or practice for some individuals, but not make the same exception for another individual based on the individual’s inclusion in a protected class. |
| Housing providers may exclude persons convicted of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance.2 | Don't include a blanket prohibition against individuals convicted of drug possession. |
| http://www.realtor.org/articles/fair-housing-act-criminal-history-based-practices-and-policies |
