Locked Out: A 40-City Audit Study of Housing Discrimination Against People with Felony Convictions

• In Event: Bias and Discrimination in the Criminal Legal System and Beyond

Abstract

Criminal background checks have become a routine part of the tenant screening process in recent decades. Despite concerns expressed by some policymakers and advocacy organizations that such screenings may result in de facto racial discrimination because of marked racial disparities in justice system contact, rejecting prospective tenants based on their criminal history is legal in the vast majority of the country. Small-scale audit studies have demonstrated that individuals who disclose a conviction record receive fewer callbacks from landlords and realtors, but how such discrimination varies across cities and is moderated by other individual characteristics is not well understood. To explore these dynamics, I sent over 30,000 emails in response to Craigslist rental housing ads in 40 cities between October 2022 and September 2023, varying the race, gender, age, marital status, parent status, felony conviction status, and (when applicable) age of conviction of individuals inquiring about units. Like prior researchers, I find that inquiry emails disclosing a felony conviction are returned at a significantly lower rate and that when responses are received, those with felony convictions are far more likely to be told that units are unavailable. But these response rate differences vary widely across cities, neighborhoods, and rental unit value.

Author

• Brielle Bryan, Rice University