SECTION 1. Title 34 of the General Laws entitled "PROPERTY" is hereby amended by adding thereto the following chapter: 34-18.3-1. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Fair Chance in Housing Background Checks Act". 34-18.3-2. Definitions. For purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Applicant" means any person considered for or who requests to be considered for tenancy within a rental dwelling unit.
(2) "Conditional offer" means an offer to rent or lease a rental dwelling unit to an applicant that is contingent on a subsequent inquiry into the applicant’s criminal record, or any other eligibility criteria that the housing provider may lawfully utilize.
(3) "Criminal record" means information collected by criminal justice agencies on individuals consisting of identifiable descriptions and notations of arrests, detentions, indictments, or other formal criminal charges, and any disposition arising therefrom, including acquittal, sentencing, correctional supervision, release or conviction including, but not limited to, any sentence arising from a verdict or plea of guilty or nolo contendere, including a sentence of incarceration, a suspended sentence, a sentence of probation, or a sentence of conditional discharge.
(4) "Housing provider" means a landlord, an owner, lessor, sublessor, assignee, or their agent, or any other person receiving or entitled to receive rents or benefits for the use or occupancy of any rental dwelling unit.
(5) "Pending criminal accusation" means an existing accusation that an individual committed a crime, lodged by a law enforcement agency through an indictment, information, complaint, or other formal charge.
(6) "Rental dwelling unit" means a dwelling unit offered for rent by a housing provider for residential purposes, other than a dwelling unit in an owner-occupied premises of not more than three (3) dwelling units. 34-18.3-3. Restriction on use of criminal record.
(a) A housing provider shall not require an applicant to complete any housing application that includes any inquiries regarding an applicant's criminal record prior to the provision of a conditional offer, except that a housing provider may inquire as provided in § 34-18.3-4.
(b) A housing provider shall not make any oral or written inquiry regarding an applicant's criminal record prior to making a conditional offer, except that a housing provider may inquire as provided in § 34-18.3-4.
(c) An applicant may provide evidence to the housing provider demonstrating inaccuracies within the applicant's criminal record or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors.
(d) Prior to accepting any application fee, a housing provider shall disclose in writing to the applicant:
(1) Whether the eligibility criteria of the housing provider includes the review and consideration of criminal history; and
(2) A statement that the applicant, pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, may provide evidence demonstrating inaccuracies within the applicant's criminal record or evidence of rehabilitation or other mitigating factors.
(e) After the issuance of a conditional offer to an applicant, a housing provider may only consider a criminal record in the applicant's history that:
(1) Has occurred within the ten (10) years immediately preceding the issuance of the conditional offer; and
(2) Is murder, manslaughter, first degree arson, kidnapping with intent to extort, robbery, first degree sexual assault, second degree sexual assault, first and second degree child molestation, assault with intent to murder, assault with intent to rob, assault with intent to commit first degree sexual assault, burglary, entering a dwelling house with intent to commit murder, robbery, sexual assault, or larceny, human trafficking, drug-related criminal activity for the manufacture or production of methamphetamine on the premises of any residential housing or federally assisted housing, or any crime that resulted in lifetime registration in a state sex offender registry.
(f) A housing provider shall not, either before or after the issuance of a conditional offer, evaluate an applicant based on any of the following types of criminal records:
(1) Arrests or charges that have not resulted in a criminal conviction;
(2) Expunged convictions;
(3) Convictions erased through executive pardon;
(4) Vacated and otherwise legally nullified convictions;
(5) Juvenile adjudications of delinquency;
(6) Records that have been sealed.
(g) A housing provider may withdraw a conditional offer based on an applicant's criminal record only if the withdrawal is justified by a substantial, legitimate, nondiscriminatory interest.
(h) The housing provider's determination of a nondiscriminatory interest shall be reasonable in light of the following factors:
(1) The nature and severity of the criminal offense;
(2) The age of the applicant at the time of the occurrence of the criminal offense;
(3) The time which has elapsed since the occurrence of the criminal offense;
(4) Any information produced by the applicant, or produced on the applicant's behalf, in regard to the applicant's rehabilitation and good conduct since the occurrence of the criminal offense;
(5) The degree to which the criminal offense, if it reoccurred, would negatively impact the safety of the housing provider’s other tenants or property; and
(6) Whether the criminal offense occurred on or was connected to property that was rented or leased by the applicant.
(i) If a housing provider withdraws a conditional offer, the housing provider shall provide the applicant with written notification that includes, with specificity, the reason or reasons for the withdrawal of the conditional offer and a notice that advises the applicant of the applicant's right to file a complaint with the Rhode Island commission for human rights pursuant to § 34-18.3-5.
(j) The applicant may request, within twenty (20) days after the housing provider's notice of the withdrawal, that the housing provider afford the applicant a copy of all information that the housing provider relied upon in considering the applicant, including criminal records. A housing provider shall provide the information requested free of charge, within ten (10) days after receipt of a timely request.
(k) Nothing set forth in this chapter shall be construed to prohibit a housing provider from requiring an applicant to complete a housing application that includes any inquiries regarding an applicant's criminal record after the conditional offer is provided or from making any oral or written inquiries regarding an applicant's criminal record after the conditional offer is provided.
(l) Unless otherwise permitted or required by law, a housing provider shall not knowingly or purposefully publish, or cause to be published, any housing advertisement that explicitly provides that the housing provider will not consider any applicant who has been arrested or convicted of one or more crimes or offenses. 34-18.3-4. Applicability. This chapter shall not apply:
(1) If, and only to the extent, a federal law or regulation requires the housing provider to consider an applicant's criminal records for residential leasing purposes; or
(2) If a federal law or regulation otherwise allows for the denial of an applicant due to certain criminal convictions. 34-18.3-5. Civil liability.
(a) A person claiming to be aggrieved pursuant to § 34-18.3-3 may file a complaint with the Rhode Island commission for human rights pursuant to chapter 37 of title 34.
(b) Any housing provider who violates this chapter shall be liable for a civil penalty in an amount not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000) for the first violation, five thousand dollars ($5,000) for a second violation, and ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each subsequent violation collectible by the attorney general.
(c) The Rhode Island commission for human rights is empowered and directed to prevent any person from violating any of the provisions of § 34-18.3-3; provided that, before instituting a formal hearing it shall attempt by informal methods of conference, persuasion, and conciliation, to induce compliance with that section. Upon the commission's own initiative or whenever an aggrieved individual or an organization chartered for the purpose of combating discrimination or of safeguarding civil liberties or rights of persons, the individual or organization, hereinafter referred to as the "complainant", makes a charge to the commission that any person, agency, bureau, corporation or association, hereinafter referred to as the "respondent", has violated or is violating any of the provisions of § 34-18.3-3, the commission may proceed in the same manner and with the same powers as provided in §§ 34-37-5 and 34-37-6. 34-18.3-6. Discriminatory advertising prohibited.
(a) A housing provider shall not knowingly or purposefully publish, or cause to be published, any housing advertisement that explicitly provides that the housing provider will not consider any applicant who has been arrested or convicted of one or more crimes or offenses, except for that criminal activity as provided for in § 34-18.3-4.
(b) A housing provider shall not print, publish, circulate, issue, display, post, or mail, or cause to be printed, published, circulated, issued, displayed, posted, or mailed any statement, advertisement, publication, or sign, or use any form of application for the rental, lease, or sublease of any real property or part or portion thereof or make any record or inquiry in connection with the prospective rental, lease, or sublease of any real property or part or portion thereof which expresses, directly or indirectly, any unlawful limitation, specification or discrimination as to criminal record, except as permitted by this chapter, and except for that criminal activity as provided for in § 34- 18.3-4.
(c) Unless otherwise required by law, a housing provider shall not:
(1) Distribute or disseminate an applicant's criminal record to any person who is not expected to use the criminal record for the purpose of evaluating the applicant in a manner consistent with this chapter; or
(2) Use an applicant's criminal record for a purpose that is not consistent with this chapter. 34-18.3-7. Drug and alcohol testing prohibited. Except as may be required under federal law or as a condition of occupancy for any residential treatment facility, a housing provider shall not require an applicant to submit to a drug or alcohol test, or request the applicant's consent to obtain information from a drug abuse treatment facility. 34-18.3-8. Unlawful acts by housing providers -- Retaliation prohibited. It shall be unlawful to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any person in the exercise or enjoyment of, or on account of the person having exercised or enjoyed, or on account of the person having aided or encouraged any other person in the exercise or enjoyment of, any right granted or protected by this chapter. No housing provider under this chapter or any agent of that individual shall discriminate in any manner against any person because the person has opposed any practice forbidden by this chapter, or because the person has made a charge, testified, or assisted in any manner in any investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this chapter. 34-18.3-9. Severability. If any portion of this law is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unlawful, such finding shall not affect any other portion of said law not specifically so found.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
