Landlords to challenge Seattle's fair housing law

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Christopher Poulos was offered the chance to work for the Obama administration during his third year of law school in 2015. Although he had previously been convicted of a federal felony, he was eventually able to gain the top-secret national security clearance required for the position.

Then he tried to rent an apartment.

"I could not secure shelter to work for the president," he said. "Even with all the clearances, the fact that I was licensed in Maine to practice law as a student attorney, as soon as I checked off yes on that [criminal history] box, I became immediately ineligible for housing."

Now, Poulos is the executive director of the Washington State Reentry Council. He aims to introduce statewide legislation in 2020 to help others with criminal histories secure stable housing, modeled on Seattle's Fair Chance Housing Ordinance. The Seattle law prevents landlords from running criminal background checks when evaluating tenant applications.

Poulos and other fair housing advocates will be closely watching the outcome of a lawsuit filed by Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of several Seattle landlords in May 2018. The suit — which will come before the Washington Supreme Court in June — argues that Seattle's Fair Chance Housing Ordinance denies landlords their right to access public records and violates the due process clause of the Washington state and U.S. constitutions. The ordinance is one of the most far-reaching fair housing laws in the country.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/landlords-to-challenge-seattles-fair-housing-law/ar-AABzNmZ?li=BBnbfcL

[Jake Stern]

1. When Kshama Sawant gets the shit kicked out her by one of these 'second chances'

The way I and half a dozen other tenants were then I'll listen to what she has to say about "banning the box"

My crime? Apparently walking my dog a little too close to his unit was enough to land me in the hospital for the night.

The fact that my landlord had to pay out a goodly settlement to myself and others because he didn't check the background of the ex-con had a lot to do with his decision to require criminal checks on ALL applicants.