Congress removes criminal records from tenant screening, opening housing to formerly incarcerated

What it does

This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to restrict what information consumer reporting agencies can include in tenant-screening reports. It prohibits reports from containing arrest records, juvenile convictions, non-criminal citations, successfully completed diversion programs, old convictions (after sentence completion), court-fee-related offenses, and expunged/sealed records. It also requires landlords who deny housing based on a credit report to notify tenants within 3 days and explain their specific reasons.

Why we flagged it

The bill's operative mechanism is reentry support—removing criminal-history barriers to rental housing for formerly incarcerated people. While framed as a consumer-reporting regulation, its true function is expanding housing access for a population facing systemic discrimination.

What the text implies

• Landlords lose access to arrest records and old convictions, potentially increasing their reliance on other screening methods (income verification, credit scores, employment history), which may shift discrimination risk to economic proxies.
• The 3-day notice requirement and duty to disclose specific reasons for denial creates a new litigation vector—tenants can challenge denials and may discover discriminatory patterns in landlord decision-making.
• States are preempted from setting their own time limits on how long criminal records can appear in tenant reports, centralizing housing-access policy at the federal level.
• Consumer reporting agencies may face compliance costs to audit and remove prohibited information from existing databases, potentially raising fees for landlords or reducing market competition among screening providers.

Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.

Who it affects

Formerly incarcerated people and those with arrest/conviction records gain meaningful access to rental housing by removing barriers to screening. Tenants also gain transparency rights (3-day notice, specific reasons for denial), strengthening their ability to challenge adverse decisions and reducing arbitrary rejections.

Who stands to gain

• formerly incarcerated individuals and people with criminal records (housing access)
• legal aid organizations and tenant advocates (litigation and enforcement)

Named in the bill

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), consumer reporting agencies, landlords / housing providers, tenants / prospective renters, State and local law enforcement

Where it stands

20 cosponsors: 20 Democrats.

• Apr 29, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 29, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Financial Services · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Financial Services”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.