What the anti screening crowd misses is that screening for criminal behavior is not for the direct benefit of the property owner, but for the safety and security of the other tenants and neighbors.
Minneapolis Doesn’t Want Landlords to Check Tenants’ Criminal History, Credit Score, Past Evictions
Under the inclusive screening process, property owners are forbidden from rejecting a potential tenant for having an insufficient credit score, or for having insufficient credit history.
Landlords are also forbidden from turning down potential tenants for any misdemeanor convictions older than three years and for most felony convictions older than seven years. The law does allow landlords to reject applicants that have been convicted of murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, or first-degree criminal sexual conduct, but only if those convictions were within the last 10 years.
The inclusive screening process also prevents landlords from rejecting tenants for evictions older than three years.