Can a convicted felon who served his time rent an apartment?

We live in Columbus, Ohio and my son who is soon to be 21, was released from prison in January 2010 after serving an 18 month sentence. It was a felony drug conviction and he has served his time. He has a job and is trying to get this life together. He stated that he will never be able to get an apartment in his name due to the felony conviction. Is this true? I thought he could still put an apartment in his name as long as the landlord knows about the conviction and approves his rental application. I told him no one HAS to let you rent, but there are landlords that will rent to someone in his situation. Can anyone answer our question? Thank you!

Yes, there are.  However, some of the rentals in question may not be to your son's liking.  In other words, they may be in poor condition or in rather poor or violence prone neighborhoods. 

If the LL doesn't ask, it need not be disclosed, and it might not be relevant to that LL's estimate of behavior and economic issues--in fact the question might come up less in so called better areas than other areas.....

But in a sense if it does come up and/or  there are multiple applicants--I would not blame a LL to factor it into equation, would you?

I fully agree with you. I told my son that it is going to be a hard, life long battle to over come his past and what he has done. I told him that he has to learn to deal with the consequences of his actions and it will not be easy at all and in fact, there are many that will write him off. I told him, he is my son, so I love him, but if a stranger off the street wanted to rent my property and had a felony, I would probably thank him for his time but not rent to him. He understands that, and as I stated, he has to live with the choices of his past. I told him all he can do is keep trying. But thank you for your post...I appreciate the information and the honesty.

I just wondered if his statement was accurate when he said as a felon he CANNOT rent an apartment. I know he can't own a gun or vote, things like that but I didn't think it was a law that he could not put an apartment in his name. Thanks!

I most seriously doubt there is a law against renting to felons --perhaps in public housing there could be a restriction  .....and be careful NOT to cosign for son--unless you are bloddy sure of he is going to pay--many co signor posts here about well intentioned folks who got left holding the bag!

He is looking to rent from a private LL, not public housing, so hopefully he will be ok. He already asked me to put the apartment in my name and as I said, I told him that I love him, but I will NOT put the apartment in my name and I will NOT co sign. I do not want anything on me if he decides to forget the recent lessons he has learned. He has to learn to re build his life and I will be here for him, but I cannot do it for him. Thank you!! :) Everyone on here is so very nice and I do appreciate the replies and the information.

Kuddos to you for not co-signing.  Finding housing will be just one of the steps he will need to navigate going forward.  Hopefully this will help reinforce the lesson, and it also protects you if he forgets it.

From an ex felon's perspective it is not quite as easy as you would think. I have been out and honest for over nine years, nearly ten. I have been working within some significant job fields since I was released and worked hard to overturn my old ways and means of living. I went from selling drugs to doing technical support for a firm. I have a family now and am currently about to get married. However, I have been attempting to find a new home since last month due to an increase in income and have found that no matter how long it has been and forgetting that I was not deemed a violent or dangerous criminal by the court that found me guilty it is damn near impossible for me to find someone even in Columbus OH that will rent to me. Sure, Iinform them of the facts, they don't care.

Also, all of you people that say it is acceptable to not rent to a fellow such as myself are ignorant. The recidivism rate for American penal systems is at 67%. Since 95% of all prisoners here WILL be released at some point or another then it only makes since to house them and help them get gainful employment. When I was released from prison I had the hardest time finding work that would allow me to support myself. There were quite a few times that my gas and electricity getting shut off was a toss up due to the fact that I had to p[urchase food and gas to survive and my paychecks, even at 10-20 hours overtime, wasn't enough to pay all of them and my rent. Desperation makes a man turn to the only unrestricted means of making money he knows, crime. If you are hungry or depsperate enough you will do whatever it takes to survive, God instilled those instincts into you for a reason.

When you keep me from finding work or allowing me to find a legal residence you are pushing me to go back to crime. You know, that thing you state you don't want me or anyone else to turn to in order to live.

See, when you flat out refuse to help an ex con you force him into a bad position of deciding if he will roll over and die because society won't give him the legal means to live on his own and he doesn't want to break the law anymore or committing crime in order to keep afloat and hating the system that caused him to go back to that way of life even after convicting him for it.

Wake up America, you create your own problems and then cry about it.

Most of Europe supports rehabilitating it's prisoners and finding them gainful employment and housing so they don't end up right where they left off. They end up paying less to take care of their prisoners and they have a much MUCH lower recidivism rate. Take a note from a much older, wiser brother continent and stop being so narrowminded.If not, then the next time you get robbed or have your car stolen, or someone sells drugs to your children, you'll have to understand that there was a percentage of possiblity somewhere around 50% that you could have prevented that action by being a more understanding person and allowing people to move on with their lives. Trust me, if a criminal is going to return to crime he will do it within the first year or two of getting out. If it has been over five years since he was released and he hasn't been sent back due to parole/probation violation or a new offense, chances are he's actually reformed. Allow him to stay that way by giving him a chance at living a normal life.

Sheesh. Apparently common sense isn't common or everyone would have it.

Brian

Ex Drug dealer and current technical support agent

helping make your whole world run more smoothly.