‘Removing the Scarlet Letter’

Yvette NA Pappoe, ‘The Scarlet Letter “E”: How Tenancy Screening Policies Exacerbate Housing Inequity for Evicted Black Women’, 103 Boston University Law Review 269 (2023). When considering what qualifications a tenant should have to be eligible to lease a unit, landlords often consider tenant screening reports that give an account of a tenant’s income, credit history, criminal background, and past eviction history. After reading Professor NA Pappoe’s article, ‘The Scarlet Letter “E”: How Tenancy Screening Policies Exacerbate Housing Inequity for Evicted Black Women’, we may all want to reconsider the use of tenant screening reports that contain information on these aspects of a tenant’s background. Pappoe argues that the use of these reports by landlords has a disproportionate impact on Black women, preventing them from obtaining rental housing, both public and private … (more)

[Serena Williams, JOTWELL, 6 September 2024]

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