Researcher: SM Page 1 3/23/21
OLR Bill Analysis
SB 355
AN ACT CONCERNING A LANDLORD'S ABILITY TO CONSIDER
THE CRIMINAL RECORD OF PROSPECTIVE TENANTS.
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Housing (DOH) commissioner
to adopt regulations, by January 1, 2022, establishing the time period
immediately preceding a rental application during which landlords and
housing authorities may consider a prospective tenant’s criminal record
in evaluating his or her application. Under the bill, a landlord's or
housing authority's limited lookback period of a prospective tenant's
criminal history cannot exceed (1) seven years for consideration of a
felony offense or (2) three years for consideration of a misdemeanor
offense.
Additionally, the bill grants landlords, or their agents, who comply
with the new limited criminal lookback periods immunity from civil
liability for damage or injury caused by a tenant's subsequent criminal
acts, so long as the landlord or agent was not a conspirator, an
accomplice, or otherwise complicit in the crime.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2021, except the housing authority
provision is effective January 1, 2022.
HOUSING AUTHORITIES
Under current law, housing authorities receiving state assistance
may consider the criminal record of an applicant for public housing
when the record involves (1) physical violence to people or properties;
(2) the manufacture, sale, distribution, or use of controlled drugs; or (3)
acts that would adversely affect other tenants’ health, safety, or
welfare. Under the bill, housing authorities may only consider such
crimes that occur during the limited criminal lookback periods DOH
establishes. 2021SB-00355-R000107-BA.DOCX
Researcher: SM Page 2 3/23/21
As under existing law, housing authorities may also consider an
applicant’s history of alcohol abuse and whether he or she is subject to
lifetime registration as a sex offender due to a sexually violent offense.
In addition to state requirements, federal regulations require
housing authorities administering the federal Public Housing and
Housing Choice Voucher programs to establish lifetime bans for
individuals convicted of (1) manufacturing or producing
methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing or (2)
a crime that subjects them to a lifetime registration requirement under
a state sex offender registration program (24 C.F.R. 960.204 and 24
C.F.R. 982.553).
BACKGROUND
Related Bills
sHB 6431, favorably reported by the Housing Committee, generally
prohibits discrimination in rental housing based on an individual's
criminal record and allows aggrieved individuals to report alleged
violations to the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Housing Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 11 Nay 4 (03/11/2021)