News
Activists are calling on the New York City Council to pass legislation to end housing discrimination against people with a criminal record.
Over 80 criminal justice, law and public defender groups are urging the City Council to pass a stalled bill that would ban landlords from doing background checks or inquiring about a person’s arrest or conviction record at any point during the housing application process.
It is impossible to live in New York City and not meet homeless people on a daily basis. Some who we encounter in our immediate neighborhood become familiar, and we establish relationships with them. They become a normal, expected part of our daily routines. So it is easy to forget that homelessness is not inevitable. There are causes for homelessness, which means there can be real solutions to homelessness.
Devone Nash has spent thousands of dollars on apartment applications, only to be denied by brokers and landlords after a routine background check.
Nash, 51, recently received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and cares for a nephew inside a family homeless shelter, but says his past convictions have prevented him from finding a permanent home. He says he became homeless when his landlord learned of his seven-year federal prison term and kicked him out of a rented room.
A few days before Thanksgiving 2019, Joyce Williams lost her job as a security guard in Chicago, and in the few months it took her to find work again, she fell behind on rent.
Her apartment, located in a low-slung brick building across from a boarded-up church on the city’s South Side, was in poor condition. The thermostat was broken, and the back door had such big gaps around it that Williams would sometimes light the stove to try and stay warm. Mice skittered across the floor, and someone had painted over obvious water damage in the hallways. But she couldn’t afford to lose the unit.
Join us for a Fair Chance for Housing Rally on Wednesday, June 23, 11am-12pm at City Hall!
We are demanding the New York City Council Pass Intro #2047, the Fair Chance for Housing Act, THIS YEAR! NYC must stop housing discrimination against people with convictions!
When: Wednesday, June 23, 11am-12pm
Where: City Hall Park at the fountain
RSVP: eventbrite.com/e/fair-chance-for-housing-rally-pass-intro-2047-tickets-159892722437
Cities across the country have passed local laws to reduce or eliminate barriers to housing for formerly incarcerated people - from Seattle, WA to Oakland, CA to Urbana, IL. Now, New York City advocates are fighting to pass the most progressive bill in the nation to END the use of criminal records in housing decisions (Intro 2047) and set the standard for future legislation.
At this virtual Town Hall:
Learn about the Fair Chance for Housing campaign & bill from City Council Members, faith leaders, and directly impacted community members
Get your questions answered about the bill and what it would mean for you
Share your experiences and ideas
Find out ways to get involved & take action
This is a live panel conversation and Q&A to address housing access & other human rights for people impacted by our racist criminal legal system.
All are welcome. Join us to learn more and have your voice heard!
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fair-chance-for-housing-virtual-town-hall-tickets-140124274477
New York City Councilman Stephen Levin, with 18 cosponsors, has introduced a bill to ban landlords from running criminal background checks on potential tenants because it prevents formerly incarcerated individuals from securing stable housing. The proposed legislation applies to most rentals, leases, sublets, or any occupancy agreements. The main exception to the proposed regulation is if someone is renting out a space in the residence where their family also lives.
Hilton Webb has a lot going for him — a bachelor’s degree in history earned summa cum laude at Canisius College, admission to Lehman College’s selective Masters of Social Work program, and an internship as an addiction recovery coach.
One thing works against him: A 29-year-old murder conviction keeps him from finding an apartment.
As our city continues to face challenging economic and public health outcomes from the COVID-19 pandemic, concerns around access to safe and affordable permanent housing are intensifying. But already, when someone leaves the criminal legal system, far too often, returning home is simply not an option. In 2017, over half of the people paroled from New York State prisons went directly to homeless shelters. Formerly incarcerated people are nearly 10 times more likely to be homeless than the general public, often facing challenges to permanent and safe housing.
Read more from Council Members Stephen Levin and Keith Powers in the NY Daily News.
In January 2015, I was released from a federal prison in California with the clothes I came in with, a few personal possessions I’d collected over the six years I had been incarcerated, and a bus ticket back to New York City. After a six-day journey home, I found myself subletting a room from a family friend – and as long as the rent was paid on time, they did not ask questions. Living in this apartment allowed me to find employment, cultivate relationships with my family, and continue pursuing my degree at City Tech. Unfortunately, this arrangement did not last.
In 2017, the landlord conducted a criminal background check and proceeded to evict me. Within a few months, I was in a homeless shelter.
Read more from campaign member Devone Nash in the Gotham Gazette.
