If a past arrest or conviction keeps costing you apartments, fair chance housing laws may protect you. They limit when landlords can reject applicants over criminal history, but rules differ by place, and Seattle’s ordinance is one detailed example.
This explainer sits within the site’s wider look at criminal justice reform.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Seattle’s fair chance housing rule | Seattle Municipal Code 14.09 |
| Enforcement began | February 19, 2018 |
| Time to file a claim with the city’s civil rights office | One year from the incident |
| Right to sue in court under the ordinance | None |
| Federal court ruling upholding the ordinance | July 6, 2021 |
| Share of U.S. children with a parent who has a criminal record | Nearly half |
These figures come from Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing FAQ and a Fair Housing Project newsletter. Laws and court cases can change, so check the source before you rely on them.
What do fair chance housing laws actually do?
Fair chance housing laws restrict how landlords may use arrest records, conviction records and criminal history when they pick tenants. The goal is to judge applicants as individuals rather than reject everyone with a record.
That matters for families as well as individuals. Seattle’s FAQ says that nearly half of all children in the U.S. have one parent with a criminal record, and that fair access to housing helps keep families together (Seattle Office for Civil Rights FAQ).
The details vary from one city or state to the next. The rest of this guide uses Seattle as a worked example because its rules, its reasoning and its court fight are all well documented.
How Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing Ordinance works
The ordinance, SMC 14.09, prohibits any person from committing unfair practices against renters in Seattle based on their arrest records, conviction records or criminal history. According to the city’s FAQ, last edited June 6, 2023, the Seattle Office for Civil Rights began enforcement on February 19, 2018 (city FAQ).
The City of Seattle passed the ordinance in 2017, according to a Fair Housing Project summary.
A landlord may still run a criminal background check. The FAQ says the law does not prohibit that, but unless an exclusion applies, the landlord cannot take an adverse action against an applicant based on the history, except as permitted for registry information.
The ordinance does not apply in every case. The FAQ lists these exclusions:
- Single-family dwellings where the owner occupies part of the dwelling.
- An accessory dwelling unit (such as a basement apartment) or a detached one (such as a backyard cottage) when the owner maintains a permanent residence in a single-family dwelling.
- Adverse actions that federal regulations require in federally assisted housing.
Even where an exclusion applies, other parts of the ordinance may still matter, so a rejection is worth a second look.
Federally assisted housing and registry information
Federally assisted housing must comply with the ordinance, but there is an exclusion when federal regulations require a denial of tenancy. The FAQ gives the Seattle Housing Authority as an example: when acting under federal law it must follow federal screening rules on lifetime sex offender registration and on manufacturing methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing (city FAQ, June 6, 2023).
Other parts of SMC 14.09, such as the notice requirements and anti-retaliation provisions, still apply to public housing authorities unless federal regulations specifically exempt them.
Registry information is handled separately. As of the city’s June 6, 2023 FAQ, landlords may review registry information for a person on a sex offender registry, provided the practice is written on the application. Before rejecting someone on that basis, there must be a legitimate business reason.
Why cities adopted these rules
Testing is one reason. The Fair Housing Project reports that in 2014 Seattle’s Office for Civil Rights ran fair housing tests, and African American and Latino testers were told more often than similarly situated white testers that they would need a criminal background screening (Fair Housing Project).
Federal guidance is another. In June 2016 the Seattle City Council adopted Resolution 31669, which affirms HUD guidance that recommends individualized tenant assessments. HUD determined that categorically excluding anyone with a criminal record could violate the Fair Housing Act because of its disparate impact on racial minorities (Seattle City Council).
The council release also cited a racial gap: in Washington State, African Americans were four percent of the population but 18 percent of the state’s prison and jail population. It said landlords should exclude people based on conviction history only when past conduct shows a demonstrable risk to resident safety or property.
The council endorsed screening that weighs factors like these:
- The nature and severity of the crime and the conduct underlying the conviction.
- The length of time since conviction or release from incarceration.
- The age of the individual at the time of conviction.
- What the person has done since the conviction.
- Evidence of rehabilitation.
The resolution also discourages excluding people for arrests without conviction, because an arrest alone does not provide proof of crime.
Seattle was not alone. A friend-of-the-court brief filed in November 2018 by the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law and the National Housing Law Project lists local ordinances in places such as Newark, New Jersey, Richmond, California and San Francisco, California (National Housing Law Project brief).
The court challenge to Seattle’s ordinance
Shortly after Seattle passed the law, three landlords and the Rental Housing Association, a trade group representing over 5,300 landlords, challenged it in federal court. The case is known as Yim v. City of Seattle (Fair Housing Project).
On July 6, 2021, the court denied the landlords’ motion for summary judgment and granted the City’s. It reasoned that the City could reasonably conclude some landlords were using criminal history as a pretext for racial discrimination, and that prohibiting its use would reduce that discrimination.
As of the Fair Housing Project’s August 2021 newsletter, the landlords had appealed. The source pack for this guide does not report how the appeal ended, so check the court record for the latest status.
What to do if you think a landlord broke the rules
Seattle’s process is a useful model of the steps involved, though your own city or state may differ.
- Confirm where the housing is. The Seattle Office for Civil Rights has jurisdiction within city limits, and for housing discrimination outside Seattle you need to contact another agency (Seattle Office for Civil Rights).
- Act quickly. Under the city’s FAQ, applicants and tenants have a year from the date of the incident to file a claim.
- Know what the office does. It conducts free, fair and impartial investigations but does not provide legal advice or representation.
- Do not plan on a lawsuit under this ordinance, which does not provide an individual right to file in court.
Employers face a similar debate, which the guide to ban the box laws covers. Relief for old records is a separate topic, explained in the guide to clean slate laws.
Frequently asked questions
Can a Seattle landlord run a criminal background check?
Show answer
Yes. The city’s FAQ says the law does not prohibit running a check, but unless an exclusion applies the landlord cannot take adverse action based on the history, except as permitted for registry information (city FAQ, June 6, 2023).
Can I sue in court under Seattle’s ordinance?
Show answer
No. As of the city’s June 6, 2023 FAQ, the ordinance does not provide for an individual right to file in court. Claims go to the Seattle Office for Civil Rights instead (city FAQ).
Does the ordinance cover every rental?
Show answer
No. It excludes some owner-occupied single-family dwellings and certain accessory units, and it allows adverse actions that federal regulations require in federally assisted housing (city FAQ).
How long do I have to file a claim?
Show answer
The FAQ says prospective occupants or tenants have a year from the date of the incident to file a claim with the Seattle Office for Civil Rights (city FAQ).
