There are online sources that make it easy for tenants to pay for the background check and for landlords to view them. One study says that 44 percent of landlords won't overlook a criminal history. The odds may not be in your favor if you have a criminal record, but there are ways to find a rental. After all, you're not the only one going through this issue.
Twenty-eight percent of SmartMove applicants had a blemish on their records. You'll probably just need to jump through a few extra hoops to get there. So, what can you do?
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First, start your search with apartment buildings that don't do background checks. Also, you may want to connect with a trusted real estate agent who's knowledgeable about renting. Instead of searching for rentals in buildings that are operated by property management companies, try searching for apartments that are privately owned by an individual landlord. Management companies often have thorough background and screening processes when applicants want to rent from them.
The chances of having an understanding landlord may be better than dealing with a management company. Talking with an individual person may help when you explain your situation — ideally in a face-to-face conversation, with proper documentation more on that below. Your chance of getting the landlord to rent to you might be higher if she can see that you're not the person that your record may say you are.
This is not to say that you shouldn't disclose your past to a potential landlord. You're just looking for a better scenario that may give you an opportunity to speak more openly and directly since the owner has the ultimate say in who she decides to accept as the new tenant. These days because of the internet and social media, it's hard to get away with a lie.
A simple Google search may turn up a lot of information, in addition to a background check. Additionally, lying on your application may get you immediately booted or rejected as a tenant. Even if you somehow end up renting the unit without having your landlord find out about your criminal record, if she discovers this while you're living there, you may get the evicted, anyway. Having to suddenly pick up and move will be stressful. In some states like California, a background check won't reveal a conviction that's more than seven years old.
Texas Sex Offender Laws
If you're in this situation, you don't need to disclose your conviction. It's very unfair, in many cases, to deny housing to someone based on a very old conviction, but in many states, there's no law against it. Put yourself in the landlord's shoes. She wants to rent to a reliable, trustworthy person who will pay rent on time and not cause trouble. This is good to keep at the top of mind when looking for an apartment so you can assure your potential landlord you won't ever:. Bring proper documentation that denotes your good character.
He was still hoping few people knew. But the word was out. I had to run inside. I wish I could kill you! While meant to be a resource for parents, the sex offender registry can also be a resource for vigilantes. In , Lawrence Trant of New Hampshire tried to kill several registered sex offenders, stabbing one and setting fire to two apartment buildings where seven offenders lived.
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After being chased by the truck, Josh was so afraid that he stopped leaving his dorm except for classes. Finally, he dropped out. Sex offender registries are a fairly new law enforcement tool. In , a 7-year-old girl in New Jersey, Megan Kanka, was raped and murdered by a neighbor who had previously been convicted of child molesting. Only a month after the murder, the state Legislature rushed to pass a set of bills to register and track offenders, and notify the community when one moves in nearby.
Efficacy aside, the sex offender registry and notification laws are intuitively appealing in a way that likely makes them permanent. Many people want to know when a sex offender moves in nearby. In that case, critics argue the registry should be reserved for only the very dangerous, those who are likely to re-offend.
Tracking Sex Offenders In Dallas And Fort Worth | Dallas, TX Patch
Critics contend that the sheer size of the list is counter-productive, because it shields the truly dangerous sex offenders in a crowd of people who will likely never commit another crime. I would say that includes juveniles. I would even argue that there are many adult sex offenders that, having them on the list just scares people in a community.
Camp added another common criticism, which is that the registry creates a false sense of security. But instead of refining the list, sex offender laws keep expanding it. Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, mandating that each state keep a registry of violent sex offenders against children accessible by police. In , another bill created a federal sex offender registry that comprises all 50 state listings. The law broadens which crimes deserve registry and extends registration to children as young as Sexual crimes against children are an automatic lifetime registry, so most juvenile offenders convicted under SORNA would be sentenced to the sex offender registry for the rest of their lives.
Many states balked at its implications for juveniles, and Texas was one of them.
In an August letter to the Justice Department, Gov. Texas does none of this. Rather than rejecting SORNA out of concern for juvenile welfare, Perry probably objected to the federal mandate and to the price. And juvenile offenders get caught up in that, even though I have not met a legislator yet who believes that a child should go on there. When he left Texas Tech in , Josh was He got a job working at a construction company, but not for long. He then got a job in the wind industry, traveling around the country putting up turbines.
He was arrested and charged with a felony failure to register. He also lost his job. And then I had a felony conviction on my record.
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Josh moved back to Abilene and worked on a ranch, at a chemical company, and as a mover to make ends meet. Then he met his wife, Nicole, through mutual acquaintances. Josh had never really dated because, after TYC, he was afraid of being considered a predator. Nicole was 22 and Josh was 23 when they went on their first date, to Starbucks.
They went for a walk and talked for hours. But I know that I need to go ahead and tell you. That was her answer.
But they fell in love with him. Josh proposed three months later.
He had started working at a pizza place in Wichita Falls, almost three hours from Abilene, commuting back and forth to see Nicole and keep his registration in Abilene. Nicole talked to me in her car as we waited for her second oldest to be released from kindergarten. During months of research for this story, I actively tried to find someone to make a case for how the sex offender registry is working and why juveniles should be on it.
As researcher Nicole Pittman had predicted, I could not find that person. Multiple studies have shown that juvenile sex offenders have extremely low rates of recidivism. Again, research says no.
Local-Level Laws for Sex Offenders in Texas
Elizabeth Letourneau is an associate professor of mental health at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and has conducted several studies on recidivism among juvenile sex offenders. Recently, she compared more than pairs of youths who had committed the same sex offense—one person in each pair had been registered and one had not.
Letourneau learned that being on the sex offender registry or having neighbors notified when a juvenile offender moves in had no effect on the likelihood that the youth would commit another violent or sexual offense.