A criminal record can have a powerful chilling effect on an individual’s opportunities. Employers, educational institutions and landlords frequently conduct background checks when deciding between multiple prospects.
In some cases, a criminal record can be the deciding factor in whether an individual obtains an opportunity. In the housing sector, in particular, discrimination related to prior criminal convictions can lead to unfair setbacks for those who have already served their sentence and paid their debt to society.
Both those hoping to rent a home and those seeking to buy could face discrimination due to a prior criminal record. New Jersey’s Fair Chance in Housing Act (FCHA) helps to protect those facing discrimination due to a criminal record.
What protections does the FCHA extend?
Under the FCHA, there are limitations to a landlord’s consideration of a prospective tenant’s prior criminal record. The FCHA clarifies that no housing provider is subject to a requirement to consider the criminal history of prospective tenants. It also imposes clear limitations on what housing providers may consider if they conduct criminal background checks on applicants.
Those conducting background checks related to housing applications should never consider arrests or dismissed charges that did not lead to convictions. Additionally, they cannot consider expunged convictions, convictions eliminated through a pardon, juvenile education of delinquency or legally nullified convictions, such as vacated convictions.
Under the FCHA, housing providers can only consider criminal histories in cases where they have made conditional housing offers to individual applicants. The actual application should not include questions about criminal history. The only exceptions are for cases involving convictions for methamphetamine manufacturing at federally-assisted housing or offenses that necessitate lifetime registration as a sex offender.
When looking at the long-term record of an individual applicant, housing providers should only consider violent offenses, such as kidnapping, endangering the welfare of a child, murder and sexual offenses. To consider less serious crimes, housing providers generally cannot look further back than six years when reviewing a criminal record.
Those concerned about fighting criminal charges to avoid background check issues and those who have experienced discrimination because of a prior record may need the support of a criminal defense lawyer. Why? Fighting charges, expunging a criminal record and holding landlords accountable for violations of the FCHA may all require the support of an experienced New Jersey criminal defense attorney and that’s okay.