{"id":607,"date":"2022-01-01T19:39:06","date_gmt":"2022-01-01T19:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fairsharehodev.wpengine.com\/?p=607"},"modified":"2024-08-06T23:04:51","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T23:04:51","slug":"fair-chance-in-housing-act-in-effect-as-of-january-1-2022","status":"publish","type":"press-release","link":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/press-release\/fair-chance-in-housing-act-in-effect-as-of-january-1-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Fair Chance In Housing Act In Effect As Of January 1, 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

<\/p>

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/b><\/p>

January 11th, 2021<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Contact:<\/b><\/p>

Alex Staropoli, (914) 469-0060, alexstaropoli@fairsharehousing.org<\/p>

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>

FAIR CHANCE IN HOUSING ACT IN EFFECT AS OF JANUARY 1, 2022<\/b><\/p>

Landmark Law Protects Returning Citizens from Discrimination When Applying for Housing in New Jersey<\/b><\/i><\/p>

\u00a0<\/b><\/i><\/p>

NEW JERSEY<\/b>\u2013On January 1, 2022, the Fair Chance in Housing Act(FCHA)went into effect in New Jersey. The law was signed by Governor Murphy on June 18, 2021 as part of the state\u2019s Juneteenth celebration, and is the first statewide law of its kind in the country. Sponsored by Senator Troy Singleton and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, the bill would not have been possible without their leadership.<\/p>

The FCHA prohibits landlords from asking about an individual\u2019s criminal history before making a conditional offer of housing. Once a conditional offer is made, the law prohibits the landlord\u2019s consideration of certain records altogether, and establishes a tiered framework with lookback periods for other prior convictions. The law also includes critical enforcement mechanisms, including fines up to $10,000 per violation for landlords found in violation of the law.<\/p>

\u201cThe FCHA provides the strongest protections against discrimination in housing for returning citizens in the country,\u201d said James Williams, Director of Racial Justice Policy at Fair Share Housing Center. \u201cFormerly incarcerated persons face a multitude of barriers when they come home, housing shouldn\u2019t be one of them. In a state like New Jersey, where we disproportionately incarcerate people of color, the FCHA will have a direct impact on communities of color in our state.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

\u201cFair Share Housing Center is committed to the successful implementation of this law,\u201d continued Williams. \u201cFor far too long formerly incarcerated individuals have been left to fend for themselves when they return home. The FCHA provides a real opportunity to hold bad actors accountable and to give returning citizens a fair chance in our state.\u201d<\/p>

New Jersey has some of the worst racial disparities in the country, across almost all indicators of well-being, and the criminal justice system is no exception. According to the Sentencing Project, New Jersey ranks among the worst in the country for its Black-white ratio of incarceration: the rate of imprisonment for Black people in New Jersey is more than nine times that for whites.<\/p>

\u201cThis bill will have a life-changing impact on thousands of individuals in New Jersey who have prior criminal records,\u201d said Boris Franklin of NJ Together. \u201cA prior record often prevents any door from opening for returning citizens. With something as essential as housing, it\u2019s critical that\u00a0<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

we protect returning citizens from discrimination. We are watching closely to ensure this law is implemented and enforced to its fullest extent.\u201d<\/p>

Tough on crime rhetoric at the end of the 20thcentury resulted in the creation of a web of policies designed to further punish people beyond the criminal legal system. Harmful housing policies that keep people with criminal records out of housing were initiated and implemented during that time.<\/p>

\u201cThe FCHA will have a profound impact on Latinos and other communities of color in New Jersey, who are disproportionately represented at all stages of the criminal justice system in our state,\u201d said Frank Argote-Freyre of the Latino Action Network. \u201cEnsuring access to housing must be a priority if the ultimate goal is to provide the most opportunity for success for returning citizens. Prohibiting landlords from discriminating against this population is a first step to repairing decades of harm to communities of color in both the criminal justice and housing sectors.\u201d<\/p>

Housing is an essential need. An individual\u2019s housing status is directly tied to their health and well-being. For the formerly incarcerated, stable housing is directly linked to someone\u2019s likelihood of re-offense. If we want people to succeed in their reentry, we must ensure access to safe, healthy, and affordable housing.<\/p>

\u201cThe FCHA is especially important for Black communities in New Jersey,\u201d said Mike McNeil of the NAACP NJ State Conference. \u201cProhibiting discrimination in housing for individuals with prior criminal records is crucial to repairing harm to our communities.\u201d<\/p>

\u201cThe FCHA is essential to safeguarding individuals\u2019 rights and access to housing when they have a criminal record,\u201d said Sarah Blaine of RAC-NJ. \u201cRAC-NJ was proud to be a member of the coalition that advocated for this bill, and we look forward to supporting its implementation throughout the state.\u201d<\/p>

The New Jersey Division of Civil Rights has created helpful resources on the FCHA and will be hosting a webinar on the new law that will feature FSHC\u2019s Director of Racial Justice Policy, James Williams, on January 12 at 6:30pm.<\/p>

###<\/p>

\u00a0<\/div>

<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tView PDF<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 11th, 2021 \u00a0 Contact: Alex Staropoli, (914) 469-0060, alexstaropoli@fairsharehousing.org \u00a0 FAIR CHANCE IN HOUSING ACT IN EFFECT AS OF JANUARY 1, 2022 Landmark Law Protects Returning Citizens from Discrimination When Applying for Housing in New Jersey \u00a0 NEW JERSEY\u2013On January 1, 2022, the Fair Chance in Housing Act(FCHA)went into effect in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-607","press-release","type-press-release","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/press-release"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/press-release\/607\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fairsharehousing.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}