HUD Secretary Turner Issues Letter Encouraging PHAs to Adopt More Restrictive Screening Practices
Dec 08, 2025
By Kim Johnson, NLIHC Senior Director of Policy and Renee Williams, NLIHC Senior Policy Advisor
HUD Secretary Scott Turner sent on November 25 a letter to Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and owners of HUD-assisted multifamily housing, noting the withdrawing of previous guidance on the use of conviction and arrest records in background screenings and evictions, and encouraging PHAs to adopt practices that instead limit access to housing opportunities for formerly incarcerated and convicted people.
Importantly, the letter does not change underlying legal requirements regarding admissions and evictions. Any discretionary admissions and eviction policies remain up to PHAs and owners. Other laws’ prohibitions on discrimination, including the “Fair Housing Act” and the “Violence Against Women Act,” also still apply.
The letter:
- Rescinds previously issued HUD guidance on the use of conviction and arrest records in tenant screening, including:
Notice 2015-19, “Guidance for Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) and Owners of Federally-Assisted Housing on Excluding the Use of Arrest Records in Housing Decisions.”
A 2016 memo from HUD’s Office of General Counsel on “Guidance on Application of “Fair Housing Act” Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions.”
A 2022 memo from HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, “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.”
- References discriminatory “One Strike, You’re Out” policies by citing Notice PIH 1996-16, “‘One Strike and You're Out’ Screening and Eviction Guidelines for Public Housing Authorities.”
Encourages PHAs and owners/operators to publicly post a hotline for residents to “submit allegations of fraud, waste, abuse, mismanagement, illegal aliens, crime, or whistleblower-related matters within HUD and HUD-funded programs.”
Formerly incarcerated people typically return to low-income communities where resources, particularly affordable, accessible housing, are scarce. In addition to facing a national shortage of 7.3 million rental units affordable and available to extremely low-income households, a conviction or arrest record poses an additional barrier to accessing housing. These barriers place people impacted by the criminal-legal system at risk of housing instability, homelessness, and reincarceration.
Bias in the criminal-legal system has caused Black, Latino, and Native people, as well as people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ community, to be disproportionately impacted by the criminal-legal system; as such, blanket bans or overly harsh screening practices are more likely to exclude these groups from housing. Furthermore, individuals who have simply been arrested but not convicted of a criminal offense will likely face additional housing barriers as well due to the withdrawal of HUD fair housing guidance on the use of arrests in housing decisions.
Access to stable housing is key to successful reentry and community safety. HUD and Congress must work to reduce—not increase—barriers to affordable, accessible housing for formerly incarcerated and convicted people, their families, and communities.