August 20, 2024
Montgomery County has amended its ban-the-box law, the Housing Justice Act. According to legislators, this will improve renters’ rights concerning background checks. Ban-the-box laws generally prevent people with a criminal history from facing discrimination by employers or housing providers.
Ban-the-Box removes questions about criminal history from applications. Instead, employers and landlords must present a conditional offer of employment or housing before conducting a background check. The current amendment would prevent landlords from discriminating against renters by clearly defining a prospective tenant’s rights.
According to Councilmember Sidney Katz, “The Housing Justice Act equalizes the power differential between landlords and prospective tenants, ensuring clarity and transparency of rental application requirements. It also acknowledges the need to more deeply understand an individual’s experiences and humanity.”
Councilmember Laurie-Anne Sayles sponsored the newly passed legislation. According to her, the legislation requires better education about the Housing Justice Act rather than changing it. As such, the amendments require housing providers to display information about the Housing Justice Act.
These prominent displays must appear on the housing provider’s websites and in their rental offices. The Housing Justice Act also strengthens the current ban-the-box law by banning housing providers from discriminating against applicants with criminal histories. One way it does so is by ensuring applicants are familiar with their rights.
Two full-time employees will enforce this law. The Housing Justice Act also requires landlords to keep a rental application supplement for a specified time. During annual rental housing surveys, landlords must certify that they received a completed criminal and credit screening addendum. According to Councilmember Sayles, the county will collect and report the data on these applications.
Councilmember Sayles said she drafted the legislation after a resident contacted her office. She explained how the resident complained about a landlord denying their housing application and how confusion followed when her staff realized no one knew who should receive these complaints. After determining that the county Office of Human Rights should process these complaints, she drafted the Housing Justice Act with her office. They found it crucial that those with criminal backgrounds knew their rights when applying for housing.
Councilmember Sidney Katz, a co-sponsor of the legislation, admitted that the public initially expressed concern about the Housing Justice Act. Katz explained, “[T]he public at first was extremely concerned about how people might feel unsafe because they didn’t know about the criminal background… of their neighbor.” However, the councilmember noted, “[H]istorically, we have had zero complaints.”