Prohibiting housing discrimination on the basis of arrest record or criminal history.

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to prohibiting housing discrimination on the basis of arrest record or criminal history.

This bill would prohibit housing discrimination in rentals, sales, leases, subleases, or occupancy agreements in New York City, on the basis of arrest record or criminal history. Landlords, owners, agents, employees, and real estate brokers would be prohibited from obtaining criminal record information at any stage in the process. These entities would be able to take adverse actions against current occupants for reasons other than a person’s arrest record or criminal history, as long as they are complying with laws protecting victims of domestic violence, sex offenses, or stalking. Where federal, state, or local laws, rules or regulations require exclusion based on criminal history or require a criminal background check for eligibility, this section does not apply. This section also does not prohibit inquiries into the NY sex offender registry, but requires that the landlord, owner, agents and brokers provide the applicant written notice about the inquiry, and a reasonable amount of time, not more than 3 days, to withdraw the application. The bill also outlines a fair housing process for applicants to dispute an adverse action based on arrest record or criminal history. This bill does not apply to two-family owner-occupied housing or rooms in owner-occupied housing. Covered entities would not be liable under other laws for complying with this law.