| Entities | |
| Topics and Issues | Background checks (71) FOIA (11) Reentry (9) Residential/Tenant Screening (81) Second Chances (9) |
In June 2022, Demetria L. McCain, the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity issued a memo, Implementation of the Office of General Counsel’s Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions. This memo went to several parts of HUD and noted that
On March 31, 2022, President Biden declared April as Second Chance Month, emphasizing the importance of helping persons who have had criminal involvement reenter society, reunite with their families, and find stable and safe homes. And on April 12, 2022, Secretary Fudge issued a memorandum instituting an agency-wide effort to review this Department’s programs to ensure HUD, its funding recipients, and program participants are as inclusive as possible of individuals with criminal involvement. This directive highlights the importance of applying the principles of the Department’s Office of General Counsel’s 2016 Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions, which cannot be overemphasized.
This memorandum reviews those principles, highlights the need for FHEO investigators, Fair Housing Initiatives Program grantees (FHIPs), and Fair Housing Assistance Program agencies (FHAPs) to be aware of the ways in which criminal background screening policies and practices can violate the Fair Housing Act (the “Act”), provides tips for conducting investigations relating to criminal background screening, and sets out some best practices FHIP and FHAP staff can suggest to housing providers who may be concerned about potential liability relating to the use of criminal background screening information on applicants or tenants.
Shortly after the memo was issued, CDIA filed a FOIA request with HUD seeking documents related to the issuance of the memo.
Additiononal resources:
HUD reentry resources, Meeting the Housing Needs of Formerly Incarcerated and Justice-Involved People.