Criminal Records and Landlording

[Michael Temple]

I was reading this article on the site...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/advanced-...

It says that a new HUD ruling says landlords can't have a blanket discrimination policy against people with a criminal record. The article makes a link to an NPR interview that essentially says you can't have a blanket policy, but says you won't always be sued if you consider a criminal record in your decision making. Of course, it doesn't say where that fine line is at.

OK, as with most bureaucratic stuff from the government I am confused. Are we allowed to screen out people with a criminal record or not?  In the article, he seems to suggest that landlords can, but just can't have a blanket policy. OK, so as long as I don't have a written policy that says I will never rent to a convict, but what am I allowed to screen them out on. He doesn't seem to give a definitive list of what is acceptable criminal behavior and what is not. This just smells like a HUD trap, where they are really vague about this so that they can essentially nail a landlord if they want to, but as the landlord, you don't really know when you are breaking the law. Anybody have any insight on this because I do run a criminal background check and I am trying to figure out if I am even allowed to use the thing.