Can a private landlord refuse to rent to me just because of my criminal record?

Most of the time, yes. Unfortunately, the law does not protect you from housing discrimination based on your criminal record alone. Although federal and state laws make it illegal for private landlords to discriminate against you because of your race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, religion, disability, marital status, family status, genetic information, and source of income in California, they do not provide any specific or direct protection based on having a criminal record.[1212] Landlords have the power to choose their tenants, and judges often side with landlords who claim that banning people with criminal records is necessary to protect other residents and property.[1213]

However, there are some cases where you might be protected if a private landlord rejects you because of your criminal record.

    The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s official stance is that landlords cannot refuse to rent to any person with criminal convictions on that basis alone. Read more about this type of discrimination (called a “blanket ban”) below.
    Additionally, if your CONVICTION is for substance/drug abuse, your past substance abuse is considered a disability under state and federal law. People with disabilities enjoy greater protection against discrimination (read more about asking for a reasonable accommodation for a disability in Appendix E, PG. 419).
    Finally, you are protected by state and federal law that limits what a private landlord can learn about you from a BACKGROUND CHECK (often called a “tenant report” when it’s for a landlord who is screening you for their housing). A landlord has to tell you about the background check, give you a chance to fix mistakes, and certain information isn’t legally supposed to come up in the background check (read more on PG. 377).
  1. 1212

    See Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq.; Fair Employment & Housing Act, Cal. Gov’t Code § 12955 et seq.; Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ. Code § 51. The Unruh Act is incorporated into FEHA for purposes of housing discrimination (Gov’t Code § 12955(d)), but it is best to bring separate claims under each law because the remedies are different. ↑

  2. 1213

    42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(9) (Fair Housing Act does not protect “individual whose tenancy would constitute a direct threat to the health or safety of other individuals or whose tenancy would result in substantial physical damage to the property of others”); Evans v. UDR, Inc., 644 F. Supp. 2d 675 (E.D.N.C. 2009) (holding that the Fair Housing Act (FHA) does not prohibit landlords from denying a disabled tenant’s rental application based on her criminal record; relaxation of landlord's “no criminal history” policy was not required as a reasonable accommodation for mentally disabled tenant, even where tenant’s disability was an underlying cause of her conviction). ↑