Housing FIRST Act

Key Points

• The bill prohibits tenant screening companies from including many types of criminal records in their reports to landlords. This covers arrests, juvenile records, non-criminal citations, cases resolved through diversion or drug court programs, and convictions where the person has completed their sentence or is on probation or parole.
• Records that have been sealed, expunged, vacated, or pardoned would also be excluded from tenant screening reports, along with records related to court costs or incarceration fees.
• Landlords who deny someone housing based on a background check must notify the applicant within three days and explain exactly what information in the report led to the denial.
• The bill creates a formal legal definition of 'tenant screening purposes' in federal law, establishing new protections for renters that parallel existing protections for job applicants under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
• The law would also remove the existing exception that allows criminal conviction records to remain on consumer reports indefinitely, potentially limiting how long any criminal record can appear on general credit reports as well.