Local Control & Ordinances

So glad to see that the sanctity of local control continues to be a priority. 

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill prohibits a city, village, town, or county from enacting an ordinance that does any of the following with respect to a residential landlord: 1) prohibits or limits the landlord from obtaining or using various types of information about a tenant or prospective tenant, such as household income, occupation, court records, rental history, and credit information; 2) limits how far back in time a prospective tenant’s credit information, conviction record, or previous housing may be considered by the landlord; or 3) prohibits the landlord from showing a rental property to a prospective tenant, or from entering into a rental agreement for a rental property with a prospective tenant, while the current tenant is living there.

This is squarely aimed at ordinances such as Madison's limiting the degree that landlords can discriminate against a tenant because of his/her criminal background, and prevents other communities from adopting similar ordinances.  If you read Madison's ordinance, you'll see that landlords cannot refuse to rent to someone because of a minor offense years ago such as, say, being arrested smoking pot.  But if the offenses have a substantial relationship to the tenancy due to the frequency or the nature of the crimes, if there is reasonable cause to fear for the safety of the landlord and/or tenants, as well as the property, the landlord can still refuse to lease the unit to the person.  Keep in mind the landlord can also reject a prospective tenant for other legitimate reasons such as credit history, past evictions, etc.

The City of Appleton also has a similar ordinance.  Dane County, too.

There are already some limits on employment opportunities for ex-offenders, and allowing landords to discriminate willy-nilly against tenants for crimes years ago makes it harder for people to be rehabilated, to have a second chance.  The increasing marginalization of people leaving prison makes it more likely they'll live with friends & families off-lease, creating instability in their lives, increasing the chances they'll turn once more to crime.  Is that the policy that we should be going for?  Driving people "underground" as they can't find employment or housing? 

When you consider there are racial disparities in the prison population, as well as a high number of people with mental illness, this sort of policy has other implications as well.