PHAs can deny applicants for admission for objective and reasonable reasons, but must still comply with fair housing and civil rights laws. If an applicant is rejected, the PHA must give the applicant written notification of the factual grounds for the denial and of the right to an informal hearing to contest the denial.1  This notification must contain enough detail so that the applicant can understand the reasons for the denial. If the denial is based on criminal activity, the PHA must provide the applicant with a copy the information the PHA used to determine that the criminal activity took place.2  

The informal hearing must be before a person other than the individual who made the decision to reject the applicant. This type of hearing is not governed by the PHA’s grievance procedure.3

• 124 C.F.R. § 960.208(a).
• 224 C.F.R. § 960.204(c).
• 324 C.F.R. § 960.208(a).

A criminal record or activity may be grounds for denial of admission to public housing. Federal regulations provide that a history of criminal activity involving crimes of physical violence and other criminal acts may be used to reject an applicant. If a PHA receives unfavorable information with respect to an applicant, it must consider the time, nature, and extent of the applicant’s conduct as well as factors that might indicate a reasonable probability of favorable future conduct such as evidence of rehabilitation, the family’s willingness to participate in social services or other appropriate counseling programs, and the family’s willingness to increase family income.1  When contesting whether a criminal conviction should be grounds for denying admission, be sure to bring to the informal hearing any evidence of mitigating factors such as certificates of completion of a drug rehabilitation or recovery program or letters from probation or parole officers, employers, ministers, etc. Blanket criminal background screening policies may also violate the Fair Housing Act.2

HUD policies in the last decade favor giving ex-offenders greater opportunity to access public housing. In June 2011, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan issued a letter to all PHAs encouraging them to allow ex-offenders to rejoin their families when possible.3  A November 2015 program letter affirmed that HUD does not require public housing providers to adopt “one strike” policies and that an arrest is not sufficient evidence of criminal activity to support either denying admission or terminating assistance.4  In addition, HUD guidance issued in 2016 and 2022 spells out how admissions policies that exclude people with criminal records may violate the Fair Housing Act.5  Nevertheless, PHAs must deny admission to applicants currently illegally using drugs,6  as well as those who have been convicted of the production of methamphetamines or who are on the lifetime sex offender list.7

Although arrests or arrest records are insufficient to deny admission, they can be used as evidence that the arrestee engaged in criminal activity.8  When determining whether a person who was arrested for disqualifying criminal activity actually engaged in that activity, PHAs may consider, among other things: police reports that detail the circumstances of the arrest; statements made by witnesses or by the applicant or tenant that are not part of the police report; whether formal criminal charges were filed; whether any charges were ultimately withdrawn, abandoned, dismissed, or resulted in an acquittal; and any other relevant evidence.9

The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) has a progressive criminal background screening policy that limits automatic denial to applicants who have been convicted of production of methamphetamines or are on the lifetime sex offender list. Other applicants are sent through a further review process based on the nature of the criminal conviction and the time since it occurred. As part of this process, applicants can provide evidence of the facts and circumstances surrounding the conviction, evidence of good tenant and employment history, and evidence of rehabilitation and community support. No applications will be denied based on arrest alone. This policy also applies to some but not all privately-controlled public housing properties.

Any private third-party public housing provider that also receives a Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) subsidy must comply with the Louisiana Housing Corporation criminal background screening policy for LIHTC recipients.10

• 124 C.F.R. § 960.205(3)(d).
• 2For further discussion, see Section 1.3 of this manual's chapter on Louisiana landlord-tenant law.
• 3See Letter from Shaun Donovan, Sec’y of U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., & Sandra B. Henriquez, Assistant Sec’y for Pub. & Indian Hous., to PHA Exec. Dirs. (June 17, 2011).
• 4U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., Guidance for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and Owners of Federally-Assisted Housing on Excluding the Use of Arrest Records in Housing Decisions: FAQs for Notice PIH 2015-19/H 2015-10 (2015).
• 5U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions (April 4, 2016); U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., Implementation of the Office of General Counsel’s Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions (June 10, 2022).
• 624 C.F.R. § 960.204(a)(2). But see Cease v. Hous. Auth. of Indiana Cnty., 247 A.3d 57 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2021) (holding that county housing authority was not required by the federal Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act (QHWRA) to deny benefits based on marijuana use when the applicant was legally prescribed medical marijuana under state law, despite marijuana being illegal under federal law, and that the housing authority was only required to set “fair and reasonable” standards for denying applicants based on such use).
• 724 C.F.R. § 960.204(a)(3)–(4).
• 8U.S. Dep’t of Hous. & Urb. Dev., Guidance for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and Owners of Federally-Assisted Housing on Excluding the Use of Arrest Records in Housing Decisions: FAQs for Notice PIH 2015-19/H 2015-10 (2015).
• 9Id.
• 10See La. Hous. Corp., Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program Compliance Manual app. B.1 (Dec. 2022).

Federal law requires PHAs to reject applicants who have been evicted from federally funded housing programs for drug-related criminal activity for a 3-year period following the date of such an eviction. There are two exceptions: a) the evicted household member has completed a rehabilitation program; or b) the circumstances leading to the eviction no longer exist (e.g., the household member whose conduct led to the eviction has died or is in prison).1  PHAs may extend the 3-year ban at their discretion. Negotiating a consent judgment rather than a judgment of eviction may help prevent future negative repercussions under this provision.2

• 124 C.F.R. § 960.204(a)(1).
• 2Note that a PHA’s reliance on the judgment as conclusive proof of drug-related criminal activity constitutes offensive collateral estoppel by a non-party. Such an extreme use of preclusion is unsupported by Louisiana precedent. See Alonzo v. State, 2002-0527, p. 9 (La. App. 4 Cir. 9/8/04); 884 So. 2d 634, 639.

PHAs will often reject applicants who owe debts to the PHA. In Louisiana, actions to collect rent or debts on an open account have a 3-year prescriptive period.1  If an applicant formerly lived in public or Section 8 housing and has a debt older than 3 years, the debt has prescribed and cannot serve as a valid basis for rejection.

PHAs (sometimes) and private third-party operators (often) will report debts against former tenants that include contested damages and other charges. To tackle this issue, the tenant may present evidence to the new PHA that the charges are invalid, challenge the charges directly with the previous PHA, contest the charges through a dispute with the credit reporting agency, or even sue to reduce or settle the reported debt. Note that PHAs report debts to the PIH Information Center (PIC) in addition to traditional credit reporting agencies. Other PHAs can see the debt through the PIC system.

• 1La. C.C. art. 3494.

Under the Fair Housing Amendments Act, § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, public housing providers must consider reasonable accommodation requests for admission if an applicant with a disability is denied admission for a reason related to the applicant’s disability.1  

• 1For further discussion, see Section 13.5.2 of this manual's chapter on landlord-tenant law.

Under the Violence Against Women Act, PHAs may not use an individual’s status as a survivor of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking as a basis to deny admission to public housing.1  Similarly, a denial may not be based on any incident or activity related to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. This may include adverse factors such as a poor rental or credit history that is a direct result of being a survivor.2

• 124 C.F.R. § 5.2005(b); see also Section 1.7 of this manual's chapter on landlord-tenant law.
• 2Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act of 2013: Implementation in HUD Housing Programs, 81 Fed. Reg. 80,724, 80,728­–29 (Nov. 16, 2016).