Debate continues to rage regarding a Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR) proposal that would create a protected class status for certain arrest and convictions records in the City of Seattle. The most recent opportunity for discussion occurred at a March 16 community forum hosted by SOCR at Seattle City Hall.
Discussion was moderated by Councilmember Bruce Harrell and a panel of four speakers was invited to offer their insights and opinions as to what the impacts of the proposal would be.
The debate centers on whether or not arrest and criminal convictions should be given protected class status, ensuring that a landlord or employer could not use those records as the solitary basis for denying an individual’s application for housing or employment. Under the proposed draft language, a landlord could only deny tenancy based on a specific few types of convictions that are “situations where there is a direct relationship between the conviction and occupancy; or situations where occupancy would involve unreasonable risk of substantial harm to property or to the safety of individuals or the public.”
SOCR cites convictions involving murder (1st and 2nd degree), assault (1st and 2nd degree), rape (all counts), arson (1st and 2nd degree), and possession with intent to manufacture as specific examples of convictions with a direct relationship to occupancy or those which present a clear danger to the safety of others and the property.
Additionally, SOCR’s proposal says that “If a direct relationship or unreasonable risk is established, additional factors that housing providers should consider include: evidence of rehabilitation; the time that has elapsed since the conviction occurred; and/or the age of the person at the time the conviction occurred.”
This appears to place landlords and employers in the precarious position of determining what types of criminal records do and do not relate to, or present threats to, other tenants, the property and other employees. Legal liabilities for the landlord, and the obvious security risk to other tenants, are a major concern of RHA’s. If the owner chooses not to rent to an applicant with a criminal history, they may be sued for discrimination, an expensive process even for the innocent. If the owner does choose to rent to the applicant, and the applicant, now tenant, injures another tenant, the landlord may also be sued.
Washington State law currently limits information landlords can receive about a person’s criminal history. A consumer reporting agency may not report any records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime that, from date of disposition, release, or parole, which antedate a consumer report by more than seven years.
Having a screening policy for prospective tenants is necessary to ensure landlords get qualified, responsible tenants who pay their rent on time, can take care of the unit and will respect their neighbors. RHA President Julie Johnson commented "you don't want to rent to people with drug convictions. If they turn out to be growing [pot], or have a meth lab, federally, they could seize the property. This proposal would make landlords do the job that the state should really be doing, like providing transitional housing and employment to ex-felons. Property owners should be able to decide whom they rent to.”
The implications of making certain types of ex-offenders a protected class is extraordinary and takes the debate about protected classes into uncharted territory. It is one thing to grant protected status because of something beyond one’s control (race, ethnicity, class, sexual orientation, etc.), but quite another to grant it because of a bad choice an individual has made at society’s expense. The unstated premise upon which this kind of thinking rests is that one need never be responsible for the consequences of one’s actions.
Additional public discussion appears to be in the future as no formal legislation has been introduced to Council. If you’d like to receive more timely updates on this issue look for RHA’s Call to Action email alerts. If you’re not receiving them and would like to please contact RHA Director of External Affairs Sean Martin at smartin@rha-ps.com to be added to our email alert system. This blog contains general information and is not intended to apply to any specific situation. If you need legal advice or have questions about the application of the law in a particular matter, you should consult a lawyer.
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