The Biden Administration is threatening — and has sued — local governments and law enforcement agencies across the country that have implemented measures to curb an epidemic of crime, drugs and gang violence in rental properties asserting that the policies “unfairly penalize communities of color.”
The popular laws, enacted by thousands of cities nationwide are commonly known as “crime-free” and “nuisance” programs that restrict housing based on criminal and arrest records and punish landlords and tenants with excessive calls to police and emergency services or those engaged in criminal activity.
To improve living conditions in mainly low-income rentals 2,000 cities across 48 states have adopted crime-free and nuisance policies, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has legally challenged many of the measures in the last few years claiming that they are discriminatory and therefore violate federal law.