September 1, 2016
LEAN recently hosted John Zimmerman, who is from Miami Valley Fair Housing and has spoken and instructed training across the state on fair housing, to speak about the new guidance to the Fair Housing Act that addresses the discrimination that can occur when screening tenants with a criminal background.
Summary
The new Fair Housing guidance concerning the use of criminal-based histories when screening rental applicants was implemented to discourage unfair tenant screening for protected classes. For example, in many locales minorities are arrested at a much higher rate without resultant convictions, and having a blanket policy to refuse to rent based on an arrest record alone has a disproportionate negative impact on minorities. To be in compliance with fair housing laws landlords must be consistent in their tenant screening practices relating to applicants with criminal histories. In order to make informed decisions, it is recommended that landlords include a notice to be heard in their rental application stating that if the tenant has a special situation to bring it up with the landlord
Read the actual guidance here for more information.
To find out more about our next LEAN Networking Night email us at westsidelean@gmail.com
January 7, 2016
The Landlord Engagement Action Network has achieved its 2015 goals and has ambitious goals for 2016. Read about LEAN’s goals and achievements in Homes on the Hills WordPress post.
January 11, 2015
The Landlord Engagement Action Network was featured in the Columbus Dispatch!
Check out the work we are doing on Columbus’ westside to connect & education landlords and community members.
Dispatch: Program Educates Tenants, Landlords
July 24, 2014
COUNCIL MEMBER KLEIN ANNOUNCES CREATION OF LANDLORD ENGAGEMENT ACTION NETWORK ON WEST SIDE
Westside LEAN 