Applicants for housing have a right to obtain a copy of their own CORI, attempt to correct mistakes on their CORI, and seek to have one or more of their records sealed (after 10 years for felonies and 5 years for misdemeanors). An applicant should never give a copy of their CORI to a housing provider. Housing providers must get a release signed by applicant to pull CORI.
Any housing provider can get a CORI to evaluate an applicant for rental or lease of housing. A housing provider will be able to see felony convictions for 10 years and misdemeanor convictions for 5 years following incarceration/custody or disposition of the case, and pending criminal charges, including cases continued without a finding.
Under Federal public housing regulations: A Housing Authority may deny applicants “whose habits and practices reasonably may be expected to have a detrimental effect on the residents or the project environment.” A Housing Authority must deny an application if it finds that:
- A household member is currently engaged in illegal use of drugs.
- It has reasonable cause to believe a household member’s abuse of alcohol may threaten the health and safety of other residents.
- A household member is subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state sex offender registration program, was convicted of methamphetamine production in federally-assisted housing, or was evicted from federally-assisted housing for drug-related criminal activity.
Applications for state public housing may be denied for various reasons. State aided programs must screen out all those whose past behavior, if repeated, would violate the lease (e.g. threatening others, criminal activity affecting housing or illegal drug use). An applicant’s CORI should only be checked when the housing authority decides that individual is otherwise qualified to be a tenant. Applicants have a right to a hearing if denied.
Individuals with a negative CORI report arising from a disability, such as former substance abusers, may be entitled to have their CORI report be overlooked as a reasonable accommodation to their disability.