What California's Fair Chance Housing Rules Actually Let You Ask About Criminal History

Published July 25, 2026

A statewide, plain language guide to California's CRD fair chance housing regulations for self-managing owners running their own tenant screening.

If you self-manage and you're running your own background checks, California's fair chance housing regulations apply to you no matter which city your property sits in. The state's Civil Rights Department (CRD) rule, in effect since January 1, 2020, bans blanket "no felons" policies and requires an individualized look at any conviction before you can deny someone. This is separate from any city specific ordinance.

This is the statewide rule, not a city ordinance

A few South Bay cities, like Gardena, layer their own local fair chance language on top of state law. If your property is in one of those cities, the local rule adds process on top of what's below. But the CRD regulation itself, adopted under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) at 2 CCR §§ 12264 to 12271, applies to every rental in the state, city ordinance or not. If you self-manage anywhere in California, this is the floor you're working from.

What you can never consider, full stop

Certain categories of criminal history are off the table entirely, regardless of how relevant they might seem. Under 2 CCR § 12269, you cannot seek, ask about, or take adverse action based on:

• An arrest that did not lead to a conviction
• A conviction that has been sealed, dismissed, vacated, expunged, voided, invalidated, or pardoned
• Participation in a pre-trial or post-trial diversion program
• A juvenile justice system adjudication, unless a court has specifically ordered otherwise

If a screening report surfaces any of these, you're required to disregard them. An applicant can still choose to bring up one of these items themselves as mitigating context, and you're allowed to consider it if they do, but you cannot go looking for it or hold it against them if you find it another way.

Blanket bans are prohibited, even in your ad copy

You cannot advertise or maintain a policy that excludes every applicant with any criminal record. CRD guidance is explicit that statements like "no felons" or "we don't allow criminals" are unlawful, whether they show up in a listing, an application form, or something a leasing agent says out loud during a showing. The rule requires an individualized assessment of each relevant conviction instead of a categorical rule that screens everyone with a record out automatically.

What "directly related" and individualized assessment actually mean

If a conviction survives the exclusions above, you can only use it to deny an applicant if it's directly related to a legitimate, nondiscriminatory concern, generally framed as the person's ability to be a good tenant or a threat to the health, safety, or property of others. 2 CCR § 12266 lays out what an individualized assessment needs to weigh, including:

• The nature and severity of the offense
• The applicant's age at the time of the conduct
• How much time has passed since the conviction, since the regulation does not set one fixed lookback number for housing and instead requires that whatever history you consider actually be relevant to the decision
• Evidence of rehabilitation, including completion of parole or probation
• A good tenant history before or after the conviction
• Whether the person is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or trafficking, where the record relates to that
• Any other relevant surrounding circumstances

Before you can deny based on a conviction, you're required to give the applicant written notice and a real opportunity to present mitigating information, in writing or in person, before the decision is final. Practically, that means don't send a denial the moment a report comes back. Give the applicant a chance to explain first, and actually weigh what they tell you.

Build the process into your screening, in this order

For a self-managing owner running your own checks, the safest sequence looks like this. Verify income, credit, and rental history first, and only pull or review criminal history after those other qualifications check out. That sequencing matters for two reasons: it keeps a criminal record from becoming the deciding factor when an applicant might not have qualified financially anyway, and it shows, if you're ever asked, that criminal history wasn't the first or only thing you looked at. If you're using a third party consumer reporting agency for the background check, you also have separate notice obligations under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act whenever you take an adverse action based on that report, on top of the CRD steps above.

Common questions

Can I still deny someone with a very serious or recent conviction?

Yes, if it's directly related to a legitimate safety or tenancy concern and you've done the individualized assessment above, including giving the applicant a chance to respond. The rule doesn't require you to rent to everyone. It requires you to look at the specific record and the specific person instead of applying a blanket rule.

Does this apply if I only own one rental and screen tenants myself?

Yes. The CRD regulation applies to housing providers generally and doesn't carve out an exception for owners who self-manage a single unit. If you're the one deciding whether to approve or deny an applicant, the same limits apply to you as to a large management company.

What if my city, like Gardena, has its own fair chance ordinance too?

Follow both. The local ordinance sits on top of the state rule and can add requirements, like a longer waiting period before you can ask about criminal history at all, but it can't give you more room to deny someone than the state regulation allows.

Last verified: July 25, 2026. This is general information for property owners, not legal advice. Confirm your specific situation with a licensed attorney before acting.

Kellie

Schofield Properties

323 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245

Topics: self-management, screening, fair-housing, landlord-guide

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