I think this is completely insane but the Attorney General is starting to enforce it. So, if you rent in NJ, make sure to take that question off your application.
Gonna be honest, that's one heck of a clickbaity headline. Taking a look at the actual source, the FCHA website just says you can't discriminate against people who haven't been convicted. I mean okay, so the 5th Amendment still applies in New Jersey.
Gonna be honest, that's one heck of a clickbaity headline. Taking a look at the actual source, the FCHA website just says you can't discriminate against people who haven't been convicted. I mean okay, so the 5th Amendment still applies in New Jersey.
I just read some articles and turns out that landlords cannot deny a tenant based solely on their criminal history during the pre-rental inquiry process. However, they can inquire about the tenant's criminal history and run a background check before making a final decision, and if they do deny the tenant based on their criminal history, they must provide a legitimate business reason (such as a concern for the safety of other tenants or property) and comply with fair housing laws.
So you cant discriminate against criminals with good credit, a good job paying 3x rent, and a good landlord reference? That’s really going to eliminate a lot of applicants. Let me guess they still get sued if they let a pedophile rent next to a house with kids and something happens?
Ps. I wonder if you can require a drug test? Or are drug users a protected class?
Since this became the law in NJ last year, we've adjusted, as did, it appears, the other investors
in my local market. Specifically, our rental portal, Rentler, no longer checks
for a criminal record. More specifically, our tenant review criteria
continues to reflect high expectations for our prospective tenants. We
consistently follow our criteria with a "if in doubt, keep
looking" approach.
For those outside NJ looking to invest here, I'd imagine other markets without this requirement would be more attractive. This said, there are still good risk-adjusted returns to be had in NJ. Best wishes.
Seattle adopted this a few years ago. It’s ridiculous. With recidivism rates at around 50% criminal history is absolutely predictive of risk. There’s been some successful lawsuits were tenants sued the landlord for bringing in sex offenders to a multi family dwelling. I think most citizens don’t realize that this has passed and that landlords will have to bring more criminals into their buildings. I’m sure if there was more awareness there’d be a public backlash.