Purpose of the Bill

The Minnesota Fair Chance Access to Housing Act aims to ensure fair housing opportunities for individuals with criminal records. It seeks to limit discrimination based on criminal history by regulating how landlords use such information during the rental application process.

Main Provisions

• Non-discriminatory Advertising: Landlords cannot advertise or state that applicants with criminal records will be denied rental applications.
• Disclosure of Screening Practices: Before collecting application fees, landlords must inform applicants if their criminal history will be evaluated.
• Application Stage Restrictions: Initially, landlords can only assess criteria like income, rental history, and credit score, but not criminal history.
• Conditional Offers: Landlords who are satisfied with an applicant’s initial screening must make a conditional offer. Criminal records can only be considered under specific conditions after such offers.

Criminal Record Consideration

• After a conditional offer, landlords are limited to considering specific offenses, such as recent violent or sexual crimes or convictions requiring offender registration.
• Landlords must conduct an individualized assessment, considering factors like age at offense and evidence of rehabilitation, before withdrawing a conditional offer.

Applicant Rights and Landlord Obligations

• If an offer is withdrawn, landlords must provide a written explanation and refund any fees. Applicants can also request documents used in the decision process.
• Landlords complying with this act are protected from liability in civil suits related to renting to someone with a criminal record.

Exemptions and Penalties

• Landlords of small, owner-occupied properties are exempt.
• The Human Rights Commissioner will enforce the law, with fines for violations based on the number of units in a property.

Relevant Terms

criminal record, rental application, conditional offer, individualized assessment, rehabilitation evidence, landlord liabilities, exemption from penalties, housing discrimination, Human Rights Commissioner, applicant rights