Criminal History, Conditional Offers & Fair-Chance Laws

Which places allow a criminal check and when, the two-step conditional offer in New York City, New Jersey, D.C. and Cook County, the applicant’s time to respond, and the individualized assessment.

A growing number of places limit when a landlord may look at an applicant’s criminal history, what may be considered, and what has to happen before an application is declined because of it. Seayora reads the law for the home’s address and runs the steps that law requires — the offer, the notice, the timing of the check, the applicant’s chance to respond, the assessment and the letter — so the order of events cannot be got wrong. Seayora does not decide anything; you do. These are summaries, not legal advice.

The places with their own rule

“Included now” means the check may be part of the first order. “After a conditional offer” means it may be ordered only once the applicant holds a written offer and the official notice. “Not available here” means Seayora does not offer it. Everywhere else, federal fair-housing guidance still applies: no blanket bans, no arrests without a conviction, and a decision about a conviction should look at the person, not just the record.

Step 1: everything except criminal history

In a two-step place you request the other reports as usual — credit, and eviction history where it is allowed. If you also choose criminal history “after a conditional offer”, it is priced into the applicant’s fee but not ordered. If the second step never happens, that part of the fee is refunded where the state ties the fee to its cost.

Step 2: the conditional offer

When the rest of the application satisfies you, open “Fair-chance steps” on the application and send the conditional offer — the rent, the lease length, a move-in date and the deposit. It is a real offer: it can be withdrawn only on the criminal-history report, and only through the assessment below, or for a reason unrelated to criminal history that you did not know when you made it. The offer goes to the applicant together with the official notice for the place (the NYC Fair Chance Housing Notice, New Jersey’s disclosure statement, D.C.’s rights notice, or Cook County’s Part 700 rules). Seayora orders the criminal report only after both have reached the applicant, and keeps the exact text of the offer.

What you see, and what the applicant sees

You see only the convictions the law lets you consider — within its lookback period and of a kind it allows — and a count of the rest. When a record leaves room for doubt (no release date, no stated severity, a New Jersey conviction of unknown degree, no date at all), Seayora withholds it from you rather than guess. The applicant sees every record, with the withheld ones marked by the rule that withheld them, so they can correct anything wrong.

The applicant’s time to respond

The applicant gets the records and a set time to respond — to say a record is not theirs, is wrong or should not count, and to send anything that supports their application. Business days skip weekends and federal holidays. You cannot withdraw during that window (in Cook County, once the applicant has responded). Seayora tells you when the window closes, and reminds you of any deadline the law sets for your decision — Cook County’s three business days, New Jersey’s 30 days to answer a reconsideration request.

Confirming, or the individualized assessment

You can confirm the offer at any time, and then accept the applicant as usual. To withdraw it, the law requires an individualized assessment, and Seayora will not send a withdrawal without one: you pick the specific convictions you are relying on, address each factor the law names (how long ago, how old the person was, what has happened since, how it relates to the home), and state the legitimate interest at stake — and in New York City the reasons the law rejects, such as a general fear of liability or “safety” with nothing linked to this person, are refused. Seayora composes the letter from what you wrote, with everything the law requires it to include, and sends it.

A withdrawal based on a background check is also an FCRA adverse action, so the adverse-action notice opens next. Both are owed.

After a withdrawal

• In New Jersey and D.C., the applicant may ask for every record the decision relied on, free, within the time the law allows, and Seayora gives it to them.
• In New Jersey, the applicant may ask you to reconsider with evidence of an error or of rehabilitation, and you must answer within 30 days. You can reinstate the offer or uphold the withdrawal, with your reason.
• Every applicant is told which agency enforces the law and how long they have to complain.

Declining for another reason while an offer is open

While a conditional offer or a review is open, an ordinary decline is refused. If something unrelated to criminal history has come to light that you did not know when you made the offer, you can decline by saying what it is; it is recorded on the application. If a background check was run, the adverse-action notice is still owed.

Reviews outside the two-step places

In California, Minneapolis and Portland, where a criminal check may be part of the first order, the law or good practice still calls for a chance to respond and an individualized assessment before declining on a conviction. “Review before deciding” on the application runs the same steps without a conditional offer, so the record shows the applicant was heard.

What is kept

Seayora keeps the offer, the notice that was sent, the applicant’s response, your assessment, the letter and every step’s date — the record you need if a decision is ever questioned. It never keeps the criminal report itself; that is read from the agency each time it is opened. Owner-occupied exemptions are kept with your attestation, word for word.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask about criminal history on my application form?

Not in the places in the table above that use a conditional offer or bar it altogether. Seayora’s application does not ask, and the check is ordered only at the step the law allows.

What if I never send the offer?

Then the criminal report is never ordered, and in states that tie the fee to its cost the applicant is refunded the part of the fee set aside for it.

Can I decide during the applicant’s response window?

You can confirm the offer at any time. A withdrawal waits until the window has ended — in Cook County until the applicant has responded or the window has ended — because deciding before someone has been heard is exactly what these laws prevent.

Does Seayora decide whether a conviction matters?

No. Seayora shows what the law lets you consider, collects the assessment the law requires and sends the letter. The decision, and the reasons for it, are yours.

Can my assistant (Claude, ChatGPT) send an offer or withdraw one?

No. An offer and an assessment are legal acts by a named person, and a criminal-history report is not something to hand to an AI model, so neither is available through Seayora’s assistant connection.

Related guides

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• Fair Housing Basics
• Rental Applications

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