AB 396: Rental housing discrimination: applications: criminal records.

Existing law generally prohibits housing discrimination with respect to the personal characteristics of race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, ancestry, familial status, source of income, disability, or genetic information.

This bill would make it unlawful for the owner of any rental housing accommodation to deny the rental or lease of a housing accommodation without first satisfying specified requirements relating to the application process. The bill would prohibit the owner of a rental housing accommodation from inquiring about, or requiring an applicant for rental housing accommodation to disclose, a criminal record during the initial application assessment phase, as defined, unless otherwise required by state or federal law. The bill would permit an owner of a rental housing accommodation, accommodation to disclose the owners criminal background check policy on the rental housing accommodation application, as specified, and after successful completion of the initial application assessment phase, to request a criminal background check and inquire about and consider an applicants criminal record in deciding whether to rent or lease. The bill would require the owner of a rental housing accommodation who is considering denying an application to rent or lease after requesting a criminal background check or considering an applicants criminal record, and the possible denial is based on the applicants criminal record, to promptly provide the applicant with a written statement listing the reasons for the possible denial before making a final decision. If, within 14 days of receipt of the written statement, the applicant provides the owner notice of evidence demonstrating the inaccuracy of the item or items within the applicants criminal record or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors, as defined, the bill would require the owner to delay the denial for a reasonable period after receipt of the information and reconsider his or her decision. The bill would require, in these circumstances, that the owner provide written notification to the applicant of his or her final decision to deny the application. The bill would require that disclosure and request to include a written disclosure that the applicant may provide evidence demonstrating inaccuracies within the applicants criminal record or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors, as defined. The bill would prohibit, in connection with a rental application, the owner of the rental housing accommodation from requiring disclosure of, or, if such information is received, denying a dwelling based in whole or in part on specified information or occurrence, including arrests that did not result in conviction, with specified exceptions, convictions that have been voided, and juvenile justice determinations, among others. The bill would provide that an owner is not liable to any person for accepting or denying a person with a criminal record as a tenant if the owner followed the above-described procedures in accepting that person as a tenant.