It is one of the most common questions Las Vegas landlords ask before they approve an application. A background check comes back with a conviction on it, and the owner has to decide whether that single line is a reason to say no. The honest answer is that you can consider a criminal record, but a blanket “no felons” rule is one of the fastest ways to invite a Fair Housing complaint in Nevada. This guide walks through what the law actually allows, where owners get into trouble, and how to build a screening policy that protects your property without crossing a federal line.
A Criminal Record Is Not a Protected Class, but Fair Housing Still Applies
The federal Fair Housing Act protects seven characteristics, race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. Criminal history is not on that list, which is why many owners assume they can reject any applicant with a record. The problem is the way a criminal screen plays out in practice. Federal data shows that arrest and conviction rates are not evenly distributed across racial groups, so a flat ban on anyone with a record can produce what the law calls a disparate impact, a policy that looks neutral on paper but falls harder on a protected class in reality. If you want the wider picture, our guide to Nevada fair housing laws every landlord must know breaks down the protected classes in full.
That is the theory the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development relied on when it issued its guidance to housing providers. You can read the agency position directly on HUD.gov. The takeaway for a Las Vegas owner is simple. You are not banned from looking at criminal history, but you cannot use it as an automatic disqualifier without a defensible reason tied to safety.
What HUD Actually Told Landlords
In April 2016 the HUD Office of General Counsel warned every housing provider, not only subsidized housing, that overbroad criminal screening can create Fair Housing liability. In 2024 the agency went further with guidance on tenant screening, including the screening reports and algorithms that property managers now lean on. The thread running through both documents is the same. Screening has to be individualized, accurate, and tied to a real risk, not a reflex.
Three ideas carry the most weight for owners.
- Blanket bans are the danger zone. A rule that rejects every applicant with any record, no matter how old or minor, is the policy most likely to be challenged.
- Accuracy matters. HUD cautions against screening data that is incomplete, out of date, or that mislabels a misdemeanor as a felony. A wrong report that costs someone housing is your exposure, not the data vendor’s.
- The burden shifts to you. If a policy has a disparate impact, you have to show it actually serves a substantial, legitimate interest such as resident safety, and that no less restrictive option would do the job.
Arrests Are Not Convictions
This is the single clearest rule to build into your process. An arrest is not proof of anything. HUD has been direct that a record of arrest, with no conviction, cannot be the basis for denying housing. People are arrested and never charged, charged and never tried, or tried and acquitted. If your screening report surfaces an arrest with no disposition, set it aside. Decisions should rest on convictions, and even then on the full context of the conviction.
How to Run an Individualized Assessment
An individualized assessment is the safe harbor HUD points owners toward, and it is more straightforward than it sounds. Instead of a yes or no triggered by the word felony, you weigh the specifics of the conviction against the risk to your property and your other residents. Four factors do most of the work.
- The nature and severity of the offense. A decades old check fraud conviction is not the same risk as a recent violent offense, and your policy should be able to tell them apart.
- How much time has passed. Research that HUD itself cites shows that the longer someone goes without reoffending, the closer their risk drops toward that of the general population. Recency is a legitimate factor in a way that the mere existence of a record is not.
- Evidence of rehabilitation. Steady employment, completed programs, references from past landlords or employers, and a clean stretch since release all count. Give applicants a chance to provide this before you decide.
- Relevance to tenancy. A conviction that bears on the safety of residents or property is far easier to defend as a screening factor than one that has nothing to do with being a good tenant.
Document the reasoning. If you decline an applicant, a short written note tying the decision to a specific, recent, relevant conviction is worth far more than a verbal “we passed.”
Picture the kind of case that prompts this question, an applicant in her eighties with a single conviction from decades ago and a long, quiet life since. A blanket felony filter would reject her on sight, while an individualized look at the age of the offense, the time that has passed, and her stability today would almost certainly clear her. That gap between the reflex and the assessment is exactly where Fair Housing liability lives.
How Nevada Record Sealing Changes What You Can See
Nevada adds a state layer that every Las Vegas owner should understand, because it controls what legally shows up on a background check in the first place. Under NRS 179.245, a person can petition a court to seal a conviction after a waiting period that depends on the severity of the offense. The Nevada statute is available through the Nevada Legislature. The general waiting periods run like this.
- Ten years for a category A felony, a crime of violence, or residential burglary, measured from release or discharge from parole or probation.
- Five years for a category B, C, or D felony.
- Two years for a category E felony or a gross misdemeanor.
Once a record is sealed, it is removed from public access, and most background checks will no longer show it. For an owner, that means an applicant with a sealed record is under no obligation to disclose it, and you should not penalize someone for a conviction that the state has lawfully sealed. Note the limits as well. Nevada does not allow sealing for certain offenses, including crimes against children, felony DUI, sexual offenses, and home invasion with a deadly weapon. Those records remain visible, and a conviction that the state itself refuses to seal is exactly the kind of recent, serious, relevant factor that supports a denial.
Build a Written, Consistent Screening Policy
The owners who stay out of trouble are the ones who decide the rules before they ever see an application. Put your criminal screening standard in writing, apply it to every applicant the same way, and keep it narrow. A defensible Nevada policy usually looks something like this.
- Consider only convictions, never bare arrests.
- Set a lookback window that matches severity, for example a shorter window for minor offenses and a longer one for serious or violent convictions.
- Invite the applicant to explain context and provide evidence of rehabilitation before a final decision.
- Record the specific reason for any denial.
One more federal step applies when you deny based on a background or credit report. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires you to send the applicant an adverse action notice that names the screening company, states that the company did not make the decision, and explains the right to a free copy of the report and to dispute anything inaccurate. Skipping that notice is a common and easily avoided mistake.
Consistency is your best defense. The moment you make an exception for one applicant and not another with a similar record, you hand a complainant the comparison that turns a judgment call into a discrimination claim.
Where Las Vegas Landlords Get Into Trouble
Most Fair Housing problems in this area are not malicious. They come from shortcuts. The flat “no felonies, ever” line in a listing. Rejecting an applicant on an arrest that never led to a conviction. Treating two similar applicants differently because one of them simply made a better first impression. Relying on a cheap background report without checking whether it is current or accurate. Each of these is avoidable, and each is the kind of pattern that a tester or a denied applicant can document.
Let a Property Manager Carry the Compliance Weight
Screening with this level of care takes time, written policy, and a steady hand on the documentation, which is exactly the part most individual owners would rather not manage. Our Las Vegas property management team handles tenant screening and placement the right way, applying a consistent, Fair Housing compliant standard to every applicant and keeping the records that protect you if a decision is ever questioned. If you own a rental in the valley and want screening handled without the legal guesswork, reach out and we will walk you through how we do it.
If you are on the other side of this and trying to find a home with a record, our companion guide on how to rent an apartment in Las Vegas with a criminal record covers it from the renter’s point of view.
This article is general information for Nevada rental property owners and is not legal advice. Fair Housing and record sealing rules change, and individual situations vary. Consult a qualified attorney before setting or applying a criminal screening policy.