The acute need for healthy, equitable, safe, and accessible housing and robust tenant protections has become abundantly clear in Rhode Island. For this reason, the ACLU of Rhode Island supported a group of bills which would protect housing access for all individuals.
Specifically, we supported legislation which would provide for the services of legal counsel to individuals who are engaged in an eviction matter and unable to afford an attorney to represent them. We also supported legislation that would include "housing status" discrimination as violative of the Fair Housing Practices Act.
We additionally supported -- but offered amendments to clarify provisions in the bill -- on a bill that would limit the circumstances under which housing providers can demand information about a tenant's past criminal history and restrict the scope of the information that can be considered.
S 129: Housing Status Discrimination
S 209: Fair Chance in Housing Act
S 512: Tenants Legal Counsel
