The Bay Area has one of (if not the worst) housing crisis' in America, with a lot of our cities having an average rent of $2500 and up for a small one-bedroom apartment. The crisis is not only contribution to homelessness, it's also due to the fact that landlords have had the ability to run expansive background checks including criminal history. They have been using that information to 'choose' not to lease to potential tenants that have a criminal background, no matter how long ago or how severe it was/wasn't. Oakland resident, Lee "Taqwaa" Bonner, said at a news conference earlier this month:
"I was born and raised in Oakland - I am employed in Oakland...However, I cannot live in Oakland based solely on my criminal record, which happened 30 years ago."
The new passed law, the Oakland Fair Housing Ordinance, is effective immediately and will stop this from being legal action by landlords....and hopefully they will actually follow it.