The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3 - 25

Background Checks in Housing

Campus housing officers should
rely on the guidance of institutional
legal counsel on matters of federal
and state law . . . . It is up to legal
counsel and housing officers to
be cognizant of the laws in their
own state .

officers to be cognizant of the laws in their
own state. state laws are constantly changing, as in the recent example of texas' ban on
sex offenders in housing, so observers should
watch for future state legislation on CBCs in
campus housing. finally, the use of CBCs in
campus housing has gone largely unstudied.
this paper only uncovered state- and systemlevel policies, and additional work is needed to
measure the prevalence of institutional CBC
policies and to evaluate their impact.

cOncLUsIOn
for the sober-living spaces that are becoming
more common on college campus (harris et al.,
2014). finally, even when a student is denied
housing, student affairs professionals can
support justice-involved students by helping
them to find off-campus housing, particularly
properties without stringent CBC policies.

Limitations and Future Research
the legal analysis and recommendations in
this paper are presented from the viewpoint
of a higher education scholar, student affairs
professional, and advocate for justice-involved
college students, but not from that of an attorney. Campus housing officers should rely
on the guidance of institutional legal counsel
on matters of federal and state law. reviewing
higher education system policies and statutes
from 50 states is labor-intensive and prone to
error. it is possible that relevant policies related
to CBCs in campus housing were missed, especially if they exist outside of the education
chapters. it is up to legal counsel and housing

the fair housing act of 1968 prohibits
housing practices that have discriminatory
effects on people from protected classes.
there is growing consensus that the use
of criminal background checks in housing
is likely to have a discriminatory effect due
to the disproportionate number of minoritized people involved in the criminal justice
system. Because the fair housing act applies
to higher education institutions, colleges and
universities that deny students housing based
on criminal history could be engaging in an
unlawful, discriminatory practice. some states
prohibit certain justice-involved students
from living on campus, but most institutions
operate criminal background check policies
independent of any legal mandate. now that
plaintiffs have a codified path for challenging these policies in court, institutions would
be wise to reconsider criminal background
checking policies for campus housing to avoid
discriminating against vulnerable students
and to avoid litigation.

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The Journal of College and University Student Housing - Volume 44, No. 3

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