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Don't you people ever move on? Okay maybe he has a felony, but people change!!
Yes, people move on and yes, people change. But, the fact remains that he's a felon and unless he finds a slumlord or heads to the hood, he will have an issue renting.
If you feel that they should get a second chance, buy a building and rent to nothing but felons, but something says you'll never put your money where your mouth is.
Recently my husband and me had to fill out a rental application that included a criminal history check. We live in Houston Tx and the rental property was in Baytown Tx. My husband has a felony on his record from back in 2002. I have never been in trouble other than traffic tickets or parking tickets which have been taken care of in a timely mannor.
We both got denied from this property management company and the reason stated criminal history.
Not only my husbands application but mine as well.
How can that be? If you personally dont have a criminal background can they refuse you for a criminal history? With a felony in his background will this be an issue in renting a house forever?
can someone explain?
Totally
Confussed
How can you be confused about this?! You stated it's your HUSBAND...meaning you're married to this person.Because you are married to him even if you don't have a felony on your record..it doesn't matter...it will always effect you as long as you are married to him..period.That's why you were denied as well...because you are married to someone with a record and you are BOTH I assume was going to be living together.If you were to apply by yourself..then you wouldn't have gotten denied....You will probably get denied as long as you are married to him.
a good PM or rental agent will do good background checks for bad credit and FELONIES.. its what they are hired to do .. which is PROTECTING THE OWNERS INVESTMENT.
when I worked as a PM/RA I would always deny any felonies and bad credit apps.. there is to many folks with good credit and a good name to waste time dealing with a ex jailbird or bum..
YUP Harsh but honest ..
Felonies are forever, without an official pardon. It's why people should give serious thought before committing crimes. People don't accidentally commit felonies. There is always the saying, "If you can't do the time don't do the crime."
Being convicted of a major crime and the fallout is part of the punishment, including limitations on owning firearms, limitations on voting, and having a black mark on your record that may make it difficult to rent housing or get a trusted job.
Those who contemplate committing crimes should consider the eventual consequences if they are caught and convicted.
I agree this topic has moved on and I hope mine will be the last comment on the matter.
In California criminal history information is only available for the past 7 years for the purposes of credit /employment/ landlord inquiries and I don't think that landlords suffer because they can't use decades old criminal records against an applicant. I can think of one good reason to deny a person a rental because of a felony that occurred 14 years ago, if they haven't offended since then I don't see that they are a greater risk than anyone else.
you do relize tho that a background check does pull up ALL past history on a criminal check and its very easy to check the crime as the judgement is on line? I used to but then after doing that I found that some crimes were pretty bad so why even bother to see what the felon did when he has been judged and convicted for it. still a risk.. better to not rent to them at all than to take a chance and allow them to rent .. its simply not worth it. MY job was always more importian than some jailbirds feelings .. ::shrugs:: protect the owner, the building and self.. deny the app simply because theres better tenants out there ..
you do relize tho that a background check does pull up ALL past history on a criminal check and its very easy to check the crime as the judgement is on line? I used to but then after doing that I found that some crimes were pretty bad so why even bother to see what the felon did when he has been judged and convicted for it. still a risk.. better to not rent to them at all than to take a chance and allow them to rent .. its simply not worth it. MY job was always more importian than some jailbirds feelings .. ::shrugs:: protect the owner, the building and self.. deny the app simply because theres better tenants out there ..
Not in California or states with similar laws. Firms selling 'online background checks' have to comply with state limitations on the release of information.
A handful of states, including California and Massachusetts, have state fair credit reporting statutes that expand the types of obsolete criminal records that background screening companies cannot report to include convictions that are older than seven years, i.e., these local laws are more restrictive of the information the background screening company can share with the employer than the FCRA. It is important to note that these state laws restrict what information the background screening company can report to the employer
As far as whether or not you choose to rent to an ex felon that's entirely up to you, but they have to live somewhere and if all landlords refuse to rent to them it's very likely that a fair number will become homeless, given that 70 million people in the US have criminal records, imagine the effect on our cities if just 1/3 of them ended up homeless
It's that type of thinking in this country that keeps recidivism going. We are an overly fearful bunch as it is in this state. So to all of those close-minded xenophobic morons out there, I have a question. Where the **** are felons supposed to live? You know when I was in prison, I used to hear guards tell me they too have had criminal thinking or done illegal things in their past....they just were never caught. I got a question for the people who refuse to rent to felons. Do you just see the word felony when you do a background check? Do you even look at what the felonies are? My felonies are all possession charges from 7 years ago - Possession of a controlled substance less than a gram.
Let me ask those close-minded xenophobes another question. Did my possession charge affect any of you? Did it hurt any of you? Did you know there are many attorneys who go to work in the criminal court high on drugs and something else you probably would not believe? I knew a Memorial Herman doctor that was doing surgery in the ER high every day. So, because I was in possession of something I should not have had (like more than half the people in this country, why should that make me undesirable as a tenant.
To the lady who was denied, what my husband and I (both felons) ended up doing was having my mother-in-law co-sign the first year, and three years after that first year, we are still living in the same apartment in Museum Park with not a single rent payment late. The landlord got lucky with us because my husband knows a lot of people in construction who were able to give our landlord deals on repairs his other properties needed. We installed security cameras, built a wall in our apartment, redid the floors, and painted. With that being said, not only were we great tenants, we increased the overall property value.
With that being said, all good things must come to an end. We are currently looking for a 2 bedroom townhome to rent and with 4 years perfect rental history and neither of us being in trouble for 7 plus years, I am sure we will face obstacles with xenophobic mindsets like those above who "could not take a chance renting to felons"...as if none of you made a mistake in your life. Oh and to Mr Consequences, in most countries once you do your time, (which is hell on earth in places where you are no longer a human only to come out feeling like an animal) which correct me if I am wrong is what the consequences were, that is it. Here in the United States, you keep getting punished and rejected regarding employment, housing, education. This is why people go back to a life of crime. Hell, some people are smart and get back into it a little while and get the hell out when they know it is time. Then some just end up in that revolving door. The rejection is hard especially when you are working your ass off, paying bills on time and trying like hell to be a productive citizen. This state doesnt do much for felons I am afraid.
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what would you have us do with felons
