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

Don't fall for the ideological propaganda of the President's chronic haters.

I deal with the reality, and I know that the law does not demand that I rent to anyone who constitutes a danger (beyond the recognition that all prospective tenants constitute a theoretical danger.)

 

That's a bad way to think.

If a man can't be trusted to walk among his fellow men why in the (*)(*)(*)(*) isn't he in either A.Prison or B.Mental Institution.

The death penalty should be used far more and far more hastily. Violent repeat "Animals" (they're not people to me) should never get to see the light of day as a free "creature" ever again.

Sexual predators? Same thing.

Rob someone with a firearm? Cut off a hand and i bet they won't do that (*)(*)(*)(*) again.

Prison should be saved for people that commit crimes but they don't violently effect the victim. (Fraud, Corruption, Unarmed breaking and entering, etc)

Now I agree with you in this current atmosphere with the revolving door judicial system and criminals with 70+ offenses roaming the streets.

 

choices have consequences.... Obama not wanting his brothers to have to deal with the consequences of their poor choices should not be my problem. I worked hard not to get arrested.... I should be rewarded for that by getting first dibs on jobs, housing, etc, and those that screwed up, shouldn't be treated like they never did anything that broke society's trust in them.

 

And who determines Abitrary or overboard the fool in charge of HuD that insists our legal system is racist?

 

for prohibition related crimes... time to end the war on drugs

that said, what do you want to do with them, government housing?

 

supply and demand will always provide a way for them to be housed somewhere. There are many people that make lots of money renting out slums to people, and catering to the undesireables. If a pedo needs an apartment, there is property somewhere that meets the needs of that pedo. It may not be in the pedo's dream location of next door to a school, but someone will be willing to rent to them somewhere.


However, if I don't feel like renting to them my rented out 4th bedroom because they have a history of pedophilia, or drug related crimes, or theivery, or whatever other crime I don't want my kids that live in the same house exposed to, but instead, choose to rent that room out to a 20 yo Christian that is on an extended mission trip in my area... that's my choice, and the govt has no business telling me I have to rent my property out to anyone I'm not comfortable with.... even if that means I don't want gays in my house, or blacks, or Jews, or Christians, or Republicans.


Of course, just like anti-gay housing discrimination... proving it is hard to do. Short of me directly saying.. "I'd rent you this apartment, but you're gay, so instead, I'm renting it to this married couple that goes to my church", there is no way to prove that it was because he was gay, and not, because their credit check revealed the Christians were a less risky renter

 

Where did he say it's racist?

 

Those are legal. Here in AZ most of our property management agencies
have a zero tolerance criminal conviction policy.

 

They were legal. Not anymore.

 

Ok. Then why are we being forced to rent to criminals? Do we get to decide who is dangerous and who isn't?

 

So a guy comes to me and wants to rent one of my properties. Dude is a 3 time drug offender and I tell him he can't rent my house. He reports me for not letting him rent from me. What do you think happens next?

 

Nothing.

 

I don't have an answer. But by the comments I've seen on here, we've got enough people that would rent their property out to criminals without it being forced on me to do the same. I won't rent to someone that is a criminal in my opinion unless I think I can trust them.

 

....yet


slippery slope says that's the next "fundamental change" Amerika needs, according to the left.

 

Why? It's against the law to refuse a criminal your rental property.

 

No it isn't.

While the Act does not prohibit housing providers from appropriately considering criminal history information when making housing decisions, arbitrary and overbroad criminal history-related bans are likely to lack a legally sufficient justification.”

 

yeah and that question is one I can sympathize with for smaller employers... I don't think people understand how much a pregnancy can cost an employer, especially the smaller ones, I've been shielded just through sheer numbers and the type of work my companies are in, its a male oriented business, I struggle to get women in the door... but that one question could save some smaller employers upwards of 20k when their insurance rates jump up slightly for so few employees, as well as the costs associated with covering that employees work, usually at the expense of other employees who become stressed out and that cost just trickles along, despite people thinking its just wages that are given to someone else, usually its overtime, as well as the lost productivity from stressed overworked employees... nobody ever works the math all the way out, they just take the surface value and say "see no harm"... I wish they had to stay up sleepless nights owning and running a company and trying to do whats right for all their employees...

P.S. and for the record, most people would be surprised how many males take time off for a pregnancy too, and not always after the child is born, but there are a lot of single days and half days here and there they will just need to go in for... such is life...

 

Oh ok, I'll just be considered racist.

 

well there is the catch22... nobody wants criminal backgrounds to be used, nobody wants credit checks to be used... so whats a landlord who is protecting a piece of property that usually costs several hundred thousand dollars (multi-unit buildings)... did you know you can gauge the likely-hood someone will cause a fire in your premise, based upon their credit scores, people who have the most "accidental" fires have the most horrific credit scores... whether or not thats a true causality, I can not prove, but the fact remains the vast majority of "accidental" fires that destroy buildings, are caused by people with the worst credit scores... thats one reason I started using them, but the largest factor I used them is because I just can't tell what kind of person you are, will you be another person I have to drag to court and spend 6 months trying to get evicted and damages paid for, which let me tell you, when people are poor, they never pay those awards, no matter how big or small they are, its just lost money...

so credit scores are the equalizer... it allows me to get right to what matters, will you pay the bill... it allows me to skip judging your criminal record, skip judging small minor dings on your credit where maybe you missed a payment here one month simply because you forgot, it won't count against you in the grand scheme unless its habitual... it gives me the greatest way to target those who are the best as well, sometimes I get people who apply, but then they found someplace they like more, and based upon their credit score, I might say, hey I'll knock $50 off a month, or give you first month free...

bad credit... what do they do you ask... well they are stuck living in the cesspools or shacking up with others who want a roommate and are subleasing... OR, in many cases when I have a 3 bedroom for rent and 3 guys apply, 1 of 3 might have the good credit, thats actually something I would reject, I need at least 2 of 3 to have good credit before I'll roll the dice... I turn away a lot of folks for 2 bedrooms where only one has good credit... once in a while I'll get somebody who has no credit, this is different from someone with bad credit, they just have nothing going on, and this is where I'll require a cosigner who often is a parent with good credit... however you have to be very careful about people with no credit, sometimes they are using their childrens social security numbers, all too often in fact, its sickening, I call the police on them...

bad credit mostly just ends up in crappy low cost places with the slum lords, its a terrible position to be in, but it shows just how important it is to live BELOW your means, so you always have extra money and you can afford to save... I know I know people always tell me "they can't afford to"... and to them I always say hogwash... they don't want to, its not that they can't... they could live with several roommates, there are places in my city that offers dorm style living for the poor, for $250 a month... anyone with a minimum wage job can afford that, it won't be pleasant, in fact most would never want to live there, but it can be done... live below your means, and life won't disappoint...

(but yeah my solid point being, credit checks despite the objections from folks, are actually the most fair way to base risk on, because its a rolling indicator of present risk)

P.S. I should also add, the actual number for the credit score is less important to me than seeing you have credit, you pay it regularly, AND I can see how large your lines of credit are... wen I see someone has a credit card that has a $5000 credit line, and they only have a $250 balance... I know they have great potential to absorb problems... but when I get someone who has a $5000 credit line, and they want to move in, and they have used $4800 of it, they are an immense risk... despite the fact their credit score number might not yet reflect that true risk yet... there are more warning signs than just the number associated with it... because that number takes a while to change, but I can get an immediate snapshot of your lines of credit today and how much you've charged up since I paid to get your history... so I know if you recently ran into trouble and you might prove to be a much greater risk than someone who is moving because they can, not because they have to...

 

well, its a fact that the Clinton Drug laws did mandate prison time for low level drug offences, which overwhelmingly targeted minorities.

 

Perhaps, but that won't be why.

 

I understand the position of the Landlord but, there is also issues on the other side. No way a landlord should be able to even ask for a Social Security Number with the amount if identity theft issues these days.

 

you can target them FOR rental if you're licensed as a half-way or treatment style living center... many landlords do that because they get states dollars for taking them in, and the state ALWAYS pays every month... I choose not to target them because of the constant inspections and annoyances when they break a faucet on purpose and then report it as an issue...

HOWEVER you can't ask them if you're using it to DISCRIMINATE against them... since its considered a recognized and PROTECTED disease... so you can't use it to EXCLUDE them... you can advertise to get their business, but you can't use it as a means to screen them out...

understand the critical and important difference...

 

It is good that two thus far have successfully reintegrated into society which is better than none. For those who refuse to live a life free of crime, I say implement the three strikes (felonies) 25 year mandatory minimum.

 

Yeah, I know you would just love to rent to a child rapist so you can feel good about yourself.