The Consumer Data Industry Association (CDIA) and the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) together submitted an amicus brief in November in support of landlords’ First Amendment right to conduct criminal record background checks. The case of Yim v. City of Seattle challenges a Seattle ordinance that prohibits private landlords from conducting criminal background checks when screening prospective tenants. The amici argue that heightened scrutiny should apply to test the ordinance’s constitutionality and that criminal record background screening plays a vital role in ensuring public safety and helping private landlords run their businesses efficiently. First, the amici emphasize how tenant screening reports allow private landlords to manage risks and promote public safety. Second, the amici argue that the district court should have applied heightened First Amendment scrutiny to the ordinance’s regulation of speech and should have held the ordinance unconstitutional as a result. And third, the amici argue that the ordinance, as applied to consumer reporting agencies, is preempted by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
