Tenants can be asked about their criminal histories by landlords, says the court

The court reversed part of a lower court decision and upheld part of it, allowing landlords to ask about tenants’ criminal histories.

According to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Seattle’s Fair Chance Housing Ordinance violates the First Amendment right to free speech.

According to the appeals court, the Ordinance was not narrowly drawn to meet the stated goals of the City.

The appeals court said, “a complete ban on any discussion of criminal history between the landlords and prospective tenants—was not in proportion to the interest served by the Ordinance in reducing racial injustice and reducing barriers to housing. The panel therefore concluded that the inquiry provision failed intermediate scrutiny.”

A lawsuit was filed against the City of Seattle by Seattle landlords alleging violations of their rights to free speech and substantive due process under federal and state law.

“The Ninth Circuit’s decision recognizes that the First Amendment protects the right to ask questions and receive information relevant to our livelihoods,” Ethan Blevins, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation which filed the suit for the landlords said in a relase. “The government does not get to decide what information people can or cannot possess.”

The case is Yim v. City of Seattle.  Pacific Legal Foundation represented the landlords who filed the suit for free.

The lawsuit’s history and the small landlords and tenants involved

“In 2017, Seattle passed the “Fair Chance Housing Ordinance,” forbidding landlords from asking about or considering prospective tenants’ criminal backgrounds,” the Pacific Legal Foundation wrote in a release.

“This meant that landlords could not base a rental decision on factors like personal safety or the well-being of other tenants. For Kelly Lyles and several other small-scale housing providers, this gave them little to no choice over their future tenants.

“Ms. Lyles is an artist by trade, but she earns most of her income by renting out a small single-family home that she owns in Seattle. As a single woman and survivor of sexual assault, she has the right to know if her rental applicants have engaged in crimes that might endanger her. But Seattle tried to take that right away. As a result, Ms. Lyles and several other housing providers filed a federal lawsuit. After the district court ruled in Seattle’s favor, they appealed to the Ninth Circuit,” the foundation wrote.