Understanding landlord perspectives on applicants with sex offenses
ISSN: 1460-8790
Article publication date: 28 April 2020
Issue publication date: 18 May 2020
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to understand landlords’ attitudes toward applicants with histories of sex offenses and landlords’ willingness to broaden eligibility criteria for tenancy.
Design/methodology/approach
A convenience sample of 50 landlords in Connecticut were interviewed. The content of interviews was analyzed to examine how often a landlord would be open to renting to individuals on the sex offender registry and what conditions affect their decisions.
Findings
In total, 44% of landlords would not rent to adults with histories of sex offenses under any circumstance, but 8% of landlords reported they would rent to such individuals and an additional 36% of landlords were open to it with a high threshold for other indicators of good tenancy such as stable housing history, good credit and timely rental payments.
Practical implications
These findings not only illustrate the real-world challenges in finding housing for adults with histories of sex offenses but also highlight opportunities in working with landlords.
Originality/value
There has been little examination of housing adults with sex offenders from the perspective of landlords, which is important to understand to address this difficult and sensitive issue.
Keywords
Citation
Kunstler, N. and Tsai, J. (2020), "Understanding landlord perspectives on applicants with sex offenses", Housing, Care and Support, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 27-34. https://doi.org/10.1108/HCS-10-2019-0022
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited