Obama Admin Tells Landlords They Can’t Refuse To House Criminals

The issue is not what you think... you think they can't live anywhere. That's not the case. They are just being prevented from living in CERTAIN places due to their self-inflicted choices.

No different than a face tattoo affects what jobs you can get. There are always jobs out there for tattoo-faces... it just may not be the high paying, non-physical type of work you may have wanted.


There are houses available..... live in the rural parts of the county instead of in town.... live in a trailor park instead of the country club.

you don't have a right to live in a country club.....or in walking distance to your job. Not being able to is a consequence of your poor decisions.

 

I am a landlord (I own one rental property, a single family home), and I use e-renter.com to run criminal background and credit checks on EVERY potential tenant. And I require a good reference from a previous and recent landlord that owns a property that matches one of your previous addresses. If you don't pass, you don't live in my house. I do not discriminate with regards to race, sexual preference, handicap status, or anything else that is beyond your control. But...

If you are TOO DANGEROUS to legally possess a firearm, I don't want you as a tenant.
If you are TOO IRRESPONSIBLE to maintain your financial commitments, I don't want you as a tenant.

Too bad, felons and rent-jumpers. Move along. Life is too short to be part of your free rehabilitation program. I'll sell my property before I'm forced by liberals to rent to a felon or a bankruptcy risk. Just telling the truth.

 

I have no problem with renting to anyone who has a criminal record if he does not constitute a danger, just as I have no problem with renting to a person of any race or religion if he does not constitute a danger.

If an elderly woman sought to rent an apartment from me, I don't think that my discovering that she had been arrested in a civil rights protest in 1964 is a valid reason for me to reject her.

That decision still depends on specifics, not on the fact of a criminal conviction alone.

 

It's that kind of statement that distingueishes a logical thinking of conservatives from the knee jerk reactionary thinking of liberals.

Conservatives believe the constitution gives every American the opportunity to own a gun and a home!
If some make bad decisions in their life that precludes them from owning a home or make a conscious choice not to own a gun, that is freedom of choice!

 

neither do I.... when the apartment is not on my property....

It's one thing to manage rentals in the slums of your town and choosing to rent to anyone that has first and last month's rent...... the scenario completely changes when it's a small apartment on the property that you live on.


if you rent the apartment across town to a guy with 5 breaking and entering convictions.... that's one thing
if you are forced to rent your spare room to that guy.... that's COMPLETELY different.

I don't have to hire a teacher with face tattoos do I? Even if he's qualified, has the degree, has the certifications..... Face tattoos are a choice he chose himself....

 

My principle income is not from rentals, but I do own rental properties and hold the same standards for all tenants:

They must be able to pay the rent on time, maintain the apartment in a safe and responsible manner, and not present a nuisance or danger to neighbours.

Whether they have tattoos, body piercing, dyed hair, or wear wigs doesn't impact their tenancy, so it is of no concern to me.


.

 

don't try to confuse the scenarios to avoid answering the concern.

We're not talking about tattoos getting denied rent, and that's not the scenario I presented you.

if you rent an apartment across town is one thing... but what about renting an apartment that is on your own property. You seem to believe that since you don't have that scenario personally. YOu pretend to be all noble saying "we should never deny...." because deep down, you know it will never affect you because you don't have to worry about being forced to move a pedo into your apartment on your property.

 

Of course, I never said or implied anything along the lines of "we should never deny..." I have no idea why you need to pretend that I did.

To the contrary, I specifically stated that I require that any tenant "must be able to pay the rent on time, maintain the apartment in a safe and responsible manner, and not present a nuisance or danger to neighbours.

The units that I own are all in well-maintained buildings, predominantly owner-occupied, with conscientious condominium associations.

I carefully screen all applicants and, if a person that I have any evidence of being dangerous applies, I don't have to rent to him, nor would I.

 

Obama can go and pound sand.

I rent a nice basement apartment with fireplace with retro features.

My wife and I donate to the Mormon church even though we are not Mormons. The reason we do that is because the Mormon church can provide us with a steady stream of friendly, employed and stable renters.

Obama flat out hates America and anything decent. The only good thing about Obama is the fact that he brought the rats out of the woodwork for all to see.

 

Partisan comments duly noted.

 

Yes the felon needs to deal with it.

- - - Updated - - -

“Because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African-Americans and Hispanics.

READ.

 

lol ODS is strong with this one.

 

Maybe I can help you...which of those words do you think means racism? If you tell me where you're getting confused I'm sure I can help.

 

No. However, it could be applied to federal housing such as HUD housing.

 

widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system


Read.

 

Good. I'm going to rent my house which is 1 mile from a middle school to registered sex offenders.

I figure I can get at least 6 of them in my house and make a pretty penny.

 

Disparities can occur for a variety of reasons and is not necessarily indicative of racism

 

Here's more:

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/...-you-racist/PoPt0m36oQA3Nh7YOngA4L/story.html

If you don’t rent to criminals, are you a racist?
98 COMMENTS
PRINTSUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 08: Housing and Urban Development secretary Julian Castro speaks during a round table discussion after touring a new affordable housing facility on April 8, 2016 in Sunnyvale, California. HUD secretary Julian Castro and U.S. Rep Mike Honda (D-CA) toured a new affordable housing facility aimed at helping recently homeless vets. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES

Julian Castro, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, spoke on Friday during a round table discussion on affordable housing in Sunnyvale, California.

By Jeff Jacoby GLOBE COLUMNIST APRIL 10, 2016
YOU’RE A PRIVATE landlord, renting apartments in a building you bought with your savings from years of hard work and modest living. You take pride in maintaining your property, keeping it clean, comfortable, and attractive. You charge a fair rent and treat your tenants with courtesy and respect. Your tenants, in turn, appreciate the care you put into the building. And they trust you to screen prospective tenants wisely, accepting only residents who won’t jeopardize the building’s safe and neighborly character. That’s why you only consider applications from individuals who are employed or in school, whose credit scores are strong, and who have no criminal record.

Most Americans would look at you and likely see a prudent, levelheaded property owner. Not the Obama administration. The Department of Housing and Urban Development warned last week that landlords who refuse to rent to anyone with a criminal record are in violation of the Fair Housing Act and can be prosecuted and fined for racial discrimination.


In a 10-page “guidance” issued on April 4, the federal agency announced that any landlord with a blanket policy of not renting to people with a criminal conviction is effectively discriminating on the basis of race or national origin. “Because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the US criminal justice system,” HUD’s new guidelines read, “criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African-Americans and Hispanics. . . . [T]herefore such a practice would violate the Fair Housing Act.”

The administration’s argument is twofold. First, because blacks and Hispanics commit crimes and go to prison at much higher rates than whites, a policy of automatically rejecting applicants with a criminal past will have a “disparate impact” on different racial groups. And second, not all convictions are alike, and not everyone with a prior criminal record would be a risky tenant.

Both points are indisputably true. It isn’t hard to find examples of former convicts who long ago learned their lesson and went straight, yet find it difficult to secure housing because background checks always flag their old offenses. HUD Secretary Julián Castro laments that too many landlords “use the fact of a conviction, any conviction, regardless of what it was for or how long ago it happened,” to turn away prospective tenants, thwarting those who “are only looking for a fair chance to be productive members” of society.

Is it reasonable to call attention to the challenges that can shadow people with a criminal record for years? Perfectly. And if HUD were simply urging property owners not to paint with too broad a brush, and to remember that many former prisoners are peaceful and law-abiding, and may make admirable tenants, its guidance would be unobjectionable. But the leap made by the government — condemning any landlord with an across-the-board policy of not renting to former criminals as, in effect, a racist — is outrageous.

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in the sale or rental of housing “because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin.” Felons and former prison inmates are not a protected class under the law. Having a criminal record is not a proxy for being a racial or ethnic minority, and “disparate impact” theory does not make it OK to penalize landlords whose are concerned about the safety of their property and the security of their tenants.

 

racial and ethnic

One wonders why you are spinning this so badly.. Perhaps because you are Ready for Hilary and this clown is thought to be one of the favorites for her VP pick.

 

What about racial and ethnic. Are YOU saying YOU think the criminal justice system is racist? Either you're denying there are disparities, you think the disparities are racist, or you're saying there is another cause. So which is it???

 

One has to submit their driving history when filling in a lease agreement? That's bloody harsh!

 

None of the above.. I am saying Juan Castro is a racist piece of (*)(*)(*)(*) and his own words document this.. HE is the one claiming racism.

 

according to Obama.... if you don't, you are a bigot

 

Criminal record. In Kansas he was sentenced to 5 years for driving without a license 3rd offense. They kinda went hard on him because of who his family was.

 

His name isn't Juan. So what's the reason for the disparity or are you denying there is one?