‘They’re shut out of the market’: the struggle to rent with a criminal record

“Landlords have the ability to scrutinize your background – to a certain extent that’s totally, totally fair,” said Wendell Walters, a policy advocate at the Osborne Association, which provides treatment and vocational and educational services for New Yorkers whose lives intersect with the legal system. “But in New York City, you have three-quarters of a million people who have a conviction history and they’re effectively shut out of the housing market.”

Some of these New Yorkers – who are predominantly Black and Latino – first try the usual routes to housing, such as relying on brokers and online searches. Some spoken to for this story detailed discriminatory treatment during their searches – even before their conviction histories were revealed – including markedly different treatment from agents and potential landlords when they met in person. Racial discrimination in rentals and sales has contributed to New York City’s rank as the third-most-segregated city for Black Americans in the US and second-most-segregated for Latinos and Asian Americans, says the Fair Housing Justice Center.

Some give up on the search altogether, at this point, and move in with family and friends, advocates said. Others end up in transitional or supportive housing programs. Some enter the city’s overwhelmed shelter system.

Securing housing is additionally complicated for some of those who have been paroled and need to have their home address approved by the state, said Robert Blocker, director of re-entry services at Project Renewal, a New York City non-profit that operates employment and healthcare programs, homeless shelters and supportive housing.

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