{"id":8703576,"date":"2023-01-02T05:45:03","date_gmt":"2023-01-02T13:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/?p=8703576&preview=true&preview_id=8703576"},"modified":"2023-01-03T05:45:04","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T13:45:04","slug":"this-bay-area-county-to-be-the-latest-to-ban-criminal-background-checks-for-renters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eastbaytimes.com\/2023\/01\/02\/this-bay-area-county-to-be-the-latest-to-ban-criminal-background-checks-for-renters\/","title":{"rendered":"This Bay Area county to be the latest to ban criminal background checks for renters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alameda County is moving\u00a0to prevent landlords from screening prospective tenants based on their criminal histories, the latest in a growing number of actions by local governments nationwide to make it easier for formerly incarcerated people to find housing.<\/p>\n

In January, the Alameda County Board of Supervisors is poised to formally adopt the rule,<\/a> set to cover most apartment buildings in unincorporated parts of the county, such as Castro Valley and Sunol. It would take effect only after the county chooses to end its ongoing pandemic eviction moratorium<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The new law is meant to help renters like Lee \u201cTaqwaa\u201d Bonner, who was turned away by multiple East Bay apartment complexes after getting out of prison in 2016. Bonner couldn\u2019t move in with family members because their leases wouldn\u2019t allow tenants with felony convictions. So like many other parolees, he moved into <\/span>his car.<\/p>\n

While serving 30 years for a second-degree murder charge, Bonner, 56, had started a program to mentor underserved kids. He continued the outreach work upon his release and found a job as a forklift driver in Fremont.<\/p>\n

But the only thing that seemed to matter to landlords was his criminal record.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, you lose your faith in humanity, and it puts you in a state of depression,\u201d Bonner said. \u201cHow can I be a productive employee? How can I be a productive father, a productive son, if I cannot get a good night\u2019s sleep?\u201d<\/p>\n

At the urging of tenant advocates, elected officials in the Bay Area and beyond have in recent years begun adopting \u201cfair chance\u201d laws that limit when renters like Bonner can be denied because of past convictions or arrests.<\/p>\n

The cities of Oakland and Berkeley, both in Alameda County, have prohibited<\/a> the practice<\/a>, with few exceptions. San Francisco has as well. And outside the Bay Area, places including Seattle, Portland, New Jersey and Cook County, Illinois, which encompasses Chicago, have put restrictions on running criminal background checks for prospective tenants. New York City also is considering its own fair chance law.<\/a><\/p>\n

In California, an estimated one in five residents \u2014 or 8 million people \u2014 have a criminal record. And advocates say when those with past convictions are repeatedly denied housing, they\u2019re more likely to end up homeless or back in prison, especially in the Bay Area where affordable housing is scarce.<\/p>\n

Statistics bolster that claim. According to a 2018 report by Prison Policy Initiative<\/a>, people who have been incarcerated are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general population. And the problem is more acute, advocates say, for Black and Latino residents, who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system because of longstanding economic and social disadvantages.<\/p>\n

Some studies have also shown that background checks can turn up unreliable and inaccurate results<\/a>, which are then used to refuse tenants.<\/p>\n

During a Board of Supervisors meeting in December, Xavier Johnson, director of policy justice at the Just Cities Institute, praised Alameda County\u2019s ordinance as a way to ease its chronic homelessness crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cEqually important, it will help unify families and bring people together,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

The ordinance would not apply to properties with four units or less where an owner lives in the property as their primary residence. And all landlords still would be allowed to search sex offender registries to screen applicants.<\/p>\n