Pending before the General Assembly is a bill, Raised H.B. No. 5242, An Act Concerning The Collateral Consequences of Criminal Records on Housing Opportunities, that the Housing Committee introduced “to prohibit housing providers from considering a prospective tenant’s felony conviction in connection with a rental application after certain time periods.”

The proposed law would prohibit landlords from considering the felony convictions of potential tenants more than three years old. Some landlords don’t like it. Criminal justice advocates and prospective tenants with past convictions support it. They will continue to spar over this proposed legislation and two other ones, Raised SB No. 143 banning most “no-fault” evictions, and Raised H.B. No. 5156 requiring that landlords give tenants at least 60 days’ notice of rent increases and prohibiting landlords from issuing a notice to quit when a tenant refuses a rent increase and less than 60 days’ notice has been given.