22 Questions
What is the main focus of the article?
The challenges faced by renters with stigmatizing background records in securing rental housing
What are some of the documented costs associated with the housing search process for renters with discrediting background records?
Indirect financial costs and psychological strains
What does the article suggest about the housing search process for disadvantaged renters?
It is a direct source of economic and social precarity
What is the primary consequence of rental housing unaffordability and insecurity according to the research?
All of the above
How do federal rental subsidy programs impact low-income households?
They leave three out of four eligible low-income households unassisted
What is the focus of recent studies on tenant screening practices according to the text?
Examination of the effects on economic and social well-being of tenants
What is one of the concerns raised about tenant screening criteria in housing?
Tenant screening criteria can lead to new legal guidance on fair housing liability
How do market-oriented scoring technologies like credit scoring impact individuals?
They make individuals ineligible for essential goods, services, and employment opportunities
What is suggested about landlords' beliefs regarding commercial tenant screening companies?
Landlords believe deferring to the judgments of commercial tenant screening companies insulates them from liability under antidiscrimination law
What did Viola do to investigate the unresponsiveness of landlords to her inquiries about rental advertisements?
She posted her own fake rental ad to see the response rate
According to Denise, what makes it particularly challenging to secure housing with private owners in the competitive rental market?
A large pool of more qualified applicants
What was the primary consequence faced by the respondents as they struggled to find private market housing with discrediting background records?
Economic, psychological, and political costs
What is one of the challenges faced by renters with discrediting background records as described in the text?
Difficulty in finding housing due to high demand
How does the text suggest the housing search process impacts disadvantaged renters?
It reinforces the perception that they are powerless to challenge landlord practices
What did Sandra face in her search for rental housing due to an eviction on her record?
Discrimination based on race
What belief do landlords express regarding their rights in selecting tenants?
They affirm their unassailable rights to screen and select tenants
What is one of the concerns raised about the evaluation of renters based on background screening reports?
Renters have little control over how they are evaluated based on background screening reports
What is one area where future comparative research could make important contributions?
Effect of rental market tightness on renters with stigmatizing records
What is one of the needs highlighted by the small-scale, single-site case study?
Financial costs incurred by renters during their housing search
What does the text suggest is an area where more research would advance housing scholars’ understandings?
Fee assessment practices in the rental industry
What is one concern expressed by tenant advocates and local policymakers?
Proliferation of application and move-in fees in the rental industry
What makes it particularly challenging to secure housing with private owners in the competitive rental market according to Denise?
Strict tenant selection criteria
Study Notes
- Scholars have raised concerns about the racially discriminatory impacts of forecloseable background screening criteria in housing, specifically policies that bar applicants with felonies.
- Tenant screening criteria have been implicated in discriminatory differential treatment, leading to new legal guidance on fair housing liability.
- Economic sociologists have highlighted how the use of administrative behavioral records like criminal and eviction histories can structure life trajectories and deepen inequality.
- Market-oriented scoring technologies, such as credit scoring and tenant screening reports, can construct classes of individuals ineligible for essential goods, services, and employment opportunities.
- The stratifying effects of economic classification schemes built on scoring technologies can be self-reinforcing, with a low credit score increasing the likelihood of risky mortgage products and eviction records foreclosing housing opportunities.
- Landlords increasingly use data from commercial background check reports to screen rental applicants, with an "ostensibly data-driven" approach signaling neutral indicators of market fitness and risk.
- Recent research suggests that landlords believe deferring to the judgments of commercial tenants screening companies insulates them from liability under antidiscrimination law.
- Housing scholars are increasingly aware of the housing access and equity problems linked to modern tenant screening practices, but have yet to examine the impact on tenants beyond limiting their housing options.
- Research questions include the consequences of modern tenant screening practices for the economic, social, and emotional well-being of renters, the lessons they learn from the housing search process, and how this shapes their strategies for securing housing or their understandings of fairness and legitimacy.
- The article uses a descriptive, ground-level case study to explore how renters with discrediting background records navigate the rental housing market and are affected by the housing search and application process.
Explore the sociological research on the housing search experiences of disadvantaged renters, focusing on patterns of downward residential mobility and the impact on poverty and inequality. Understand how low-income renters are often relegated to substandard housing in disadvantaged neighborhoods through the housing search process.
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