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Fair Chance in Housing bill would limit criminal-history screening early in rental process, backers say
Summary
HB1077 would prohibit landlords from asking about criminal history at initial application and require individualized assessments and limited look-back periods; advocates said it reduces homelessness and recidivism while opponents raised safety and look-back period concerns.
Delegate Adrian Boafo presented HB 10 77, the Maryland Fair Chance in Housing Act, telling the committee the bill is aimed at giving returning citizens an opportunity to obtain housing by delaying criminal-history screening until after landlords issue a conditional offer.
“HB 10 77 addresses this by prohibiting landlords from asking about a prospective tenant's criminal history during the initial application process,” Boafo said, summarizing the bill’s procedural change. Under the draft presented, background checks would still be permitted after a conditional offer and decisions would require an individualized assessment with a limited look-back period (the bill as drafted used three years for many offenses and longer categories for specific serious crimes).
A broad coalition of civil-rights, legal-aid, reentry and housing advocates testified in favor. Albert Turner of the Public Justice Center described the conditional-offer workflow and said the bill mirrors practices in D.C., New Jersey and other jurisdictions; David Wheaton of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund emphasized racial disparities in the criminal-legal system and the inaccuracies that can appear in background checks. Service providers and returning citizens gave personal testimony about how housing barriers worsen recidivism and homelessness.
Opponents from landlord/property-management groups including the Apartment and Office Building Association and Maryland Multi-Housing Association supported some disclosure protections but urged changes: they objected to the conditional-offer requirement, argued landlords need to screen for convictions that pose risks to other tenants and staff, and favored longer look-back windows (some suggested seven years for certain violent offenses). Several witnesses suggested a tiered look-back structure and more clarity about offenses that allow immediate denial.
Committee members asked about access to registries for sexually violent offenders, tenant safety near schools, indemnity or liability for landlords, and interaction with federal HUD guidance; witnesses said lifetime registrants would remain discoverable at any point and emphasized the bill’s exceptions for lifetime registries and very serious offenses. No committee vote occurred during the hearing.
