News & Events

news & events / 02.18.25 /Kenneth R. Jacobs

New York City “Fair Chance” Housing Act signed into Law

New York City legislators have not been idle. The NYC “Fair Chance” Housing Law took effect on January 1, 2025 prohibiting most housing providers from discriminating against both renters and purchasers based on the applicant’s arrest records, convictions and other criminal history.

The Fair Chance Housing Law amends the Human Rights Law by limiting the types of records that “covered” housing providers may request and consider from applicants. The law applies to nearly every housing provider in NYC with three or more units for rental or sale, including cooperative and condominium sales and (proprietary) leases.

Commencing on January 1 of this year, all brokers, licensed salespeople, housing owners, property managers and all individuals with authority to approve or deny a rental or sale of housing (including cooperative and condominium boards and managing agents) are prohibited from treating applicants differently or changing the terms of a sale or lease because of the applicant’s criminal history. (It appears that for purposes of the Act, the decision of a condominium whether to exercise a “right of first refusal” also would be deemed subject to the Act.)

Housing providers who choose to perform criminal background checks must first review the application, determine that it meets the general eligibility standards and make a conditional offer to the applicant. A housing provider may not ask an applicant whether they have a criminal history either orally or in writing, and may not search for criminal history in publicly available records including websites, until a conditional offer is made to the applicant and the applicant is provided with a copy of the Fair Chance Housing Notice of Rights.

The housing provider may then perform a criminal background search, but that search may report only: (a) convictions that require registration on a sex offense registry at the time of the background check, regardless of when the conviction occurred, (b) felony convictions where the actual release date or sentencing date (if no jail time) occurred within the last 5 years or (c) misdemeanor convictions where the actual release date or sentencing date (if no jail time) occurred within the last 3 years.

Housing providers must ensure that the scope of the background check they choose to run does not exceed the limited types of convictions permitted by the statute. If the housing provider then wishes to revoke a conditional offer, it must provide a copy of the criminal history it received to the applicant, explain in writing the reason behind the withdrawal of the conditional offer, and notify the applicant that they have 5 days to point out any errors or inaccuracies or to show that the housing provider inappropriately considered a part of the criminal history and to provide supporting information that explains their history.

Additional links:

The Fair Chance Housing Notice of Rights can be found at:

The Fair Chance Housing Notice

Helpful Questions and Answers about the law can be found at:

Fair Chance Housing Campaign