Gilroy first city in state to support legislation allowing
landlords to deny housing to sex offenders
Gilroy – City leaders unanimously endorsed legislation that would allow landlords to evict or deny housing to serious sexual offenders, making Gilroy the first city in California to support the measure.
State Assembly Bill 438, introduced by Assembly Member Nicole Parra (D-Bakersfield), also calls for improved tracking of offenders’ whereabouts and a system to rank them according to the seriousness of their crimes.
Current law forbids landlords from denying housing to a registered sex offender, as well as disclosing to current or prospective residents that a sex offender lives in the apartment.
“Right now, property owners and landlords are stuck in precarious positions,” said Councilman Roland Velasco during Monday night’s council vote. “On one hand, they cannot deny a sex offender an apartment. At the same time, they cannot inform the other tenants.”
Councilman Charles Morales commended Velasco for proposing the endorsement, saying “it’s important to protect others in the community.”
The state’s online database of sexual offenders, launched earlier in the year by the state Attorney General’s Office, lists 70 sexual offenders as living in Gilroy. But much of that information is out-dated and incorrect, especially the details of offenders’ home locations, according to the California Apartment Association, the sponsor of the legislation.
“A lot of times a person will approach a landlord and say ‘I have a sex offender living next door,’ but that hasn’t been the case for three or four years,” local CAA spokesperson Jeffrey Dennison said. “(AB 438) would correct and update this information.”
The legislation also would force California to provide greater detail on offenders. The current format does not distinguish between those who have committed acts of rape, molestation, or other serious sex crimes, and those who have committed lesser offenses, such as an 18-year-old charged for having consensual sex with a 17-year-old girlfriend.
“The first thing the bill would do would instruct the Attorney General’s office to make those changes,” Dennison said. “We want the legislation to make that distinction. That’s our intent – to protect our communities from high-risk sexual predators.”
The parts of the bill providing for such changes appear to have widespread support, while the provision allowing eviction or denial of housing on the basis of past crimes has raised heated debate.
The American Civil Liberties Union and state public defenders groups are leading opposition to the bill, which they claim further isolates and strains sexual offenders and increases their chances of recidivism.
“Discrimination in the rental of housing based on the fact that the individual is an ex-offender is a denial of basic civil rights,” according to a written statement from the ACLU. “Housing may be denied on the basis of an individual’s behavior, but not because of his or her status as an ex-offender. This bill will result in large numbers of sex offenders and their families becoming homeless, creating the increased likelihood that the state will not know the whereabouts of these individuals – the primary intent and purpose of the registration laws. This proposal is particularly bad and counterproductive public policy.”
Civil rights concerns have led to a deadlock over the bill in the state assembly’s public safety committee, according to Francisco Silva, CAA’s vice president for legislative affairs. In April, the six committee members with initial oversight of AB 438 voted 3-3 on the bill, effectively stalling the legislation while the tie-breaking seventh seat remains vacant.
Silva said the CAA will delay another vote until January 2006 in order to win converts at the state level.
“The reason we decided to not push it right now is that we’re doing a grass roots effort … It’s a way to show the broad-based support,” he said. “There are a few members on the committee who are concerned about the impact it’s going to have on sex offenders. The question is, where are they going to live?”
On the local level, however, one councilman did not share that concern.
“I’m sorry. I’m not very sympathetic to that,” Velasco said. “One of the arguments I heard form the opponents of this bill is that one of the things that might happen is that sex offenders leave the state. That’s a bad thing? I don’t buy it.”
In addition to Gilroy, San Bernardino County has endorsed AB 438 and Los Angeles County has given partial support of the measure. Silva said Alameda and Orange counties are also considering endorsing the bill.
The law comes several months after the state began offering information on the whereabouts and crimes of sexual offenders through a searchable online database known as Megan’s Law (www.meganslaw.ca.gov). The site was named for 7-year old Megan Kanka who was raped and strangled by a convicted sex offender living across the street.
To learn more about AB 438, visit the state’s legislative Web site at www.leginfo.ca.gov.
