The Metro: A criminal record still shuts too many doors in Michigan

In Michigan, some people coming home from prison face another kind of sentence — silence at the end of every rental application. State law does not prohibit landlords from denying housing because of a person’s criminal record. 

Lawmakers tried to change that last year with the Fair Chance Access to Housing Act. It would have asked landlords to look deeper and weigh time served, work history, and rehabilitation before they said no. But the bill never reached the floor.

Advocates want it revived, saying the need is even more urgent now. 

Michigan is short roughly 185,000 affordable homes for its lowest-income renters, and when housing is this scarce, those with records are quick to get shut out.

Landlord groups have resisted. They say they should exercise discretion over whom they rent to and that safety must come first.

So, the question before lawmakers — and all of us — is a simple one with hard edges: When does a person’s past stop defining where they’re allowed to live?

Tony Gant, an advocate for people affected by the criminal justice system, spent 20 years in prison. 

Gant joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to discuss living in a gray area between rehabilitation and acceptance, and how he’s trying to make change in Michigan.