Housing FIRST Act

Prohibition of specific criminal records: Consumer reporting agencies would be barred from including information such as arrests, juvenile adjudications, non-criminal citations, and completed sentences in tenant screening reports (Section 3). This prevents certain past legal issues from affecting a person's ability to secure housing.

Protection for those with completed sentences or specific legal statuses: The bill prevents the inclusion of convictions where the consumer has completed their sentence or is on probation/parole (Section 3, subsection 5). It also protects those whose cases were resolved through programs like drug court or diversion (Section 3, subsection 4).

Elimination of certain debt-related records: Information regarding offenses related to fees or back payments from court costs or incarceration cannot be included (Section 3, subsection 6).

Improved transparency for housing decisions: People who are denied rental housing based on a consumer report must receive a notice within 3 days of the adverse action (Section 6, subsection 1).

Clearer understanding of denials: Users of these reports must provide the specific reasons for an adverse action, including the specific information in the report that led to the decision (Section 6, subsection 2).