Rentals: Is “Fair Chance” Housing for Ex-Convicts Fair to Landlords?

Published: April 30, 2020, 1:04 a.m.

California is not known as a landlord-friendly state, and a few new laws are adding to that reputation. In addition to statewide rent control that caps rent increases and makes it difficult to evict bad tenants, at least two cities in the San Francisco Bay Area have completely outlawed the use of criminal background checks to screen tenants. These “fair chance” housing laws are designed to prevent homelessness among the formerly incarcerated, but are they fair to landlords?