Fact check: Are felony convictions older than 3, 5, or 7 years treated differently by PHAs when determining Section 8 eligibility in 2025?

1. Why the three-year rule seemed likely — and why it fell apart

HUD’s 2024 proposal to prohibit consideration of convictions beyond three years aimed to standardize tenant screening and reduce reentry barriers, reflecting an administration push toward fairer access to housing ^[3]. The proposal carried clear implications: convictions older than three years would generally be off-limits for screening, making it easier for many applicants with distant felonies to qualify. However, HUD formally withdrew that proposed rule in January 2025, meaning the federal government did not impose the three-year limit and PHAs are not federally required to adopt it. The withdrawal restored the pre-proposal regulatory posture in which HUD issues guidance but leaves concrete policy choices largely to local PHAs and housing owners ^{[2] [4]}.

2. What HUD guidance still requires: limits on arrests and fair housing scrutiny

HUD guidance in 2024 and earlier repeatedly emphasized that arrest records should not be used to deny housing and warned against screening practices that have a disparate impact on protected classes (race, national origin, etc.). That guidance urges PHAs and owners to tailor policies narrowly to serve legitimate safety concerns and avoid categorical exclusions that could violate the Fair Housing Act ^{[5] [6]}. While this guidance constrains the most extreme uses of criminal-history data, it does not prescribe exact look-back windows for felony convictions; instead it requires individualized or narrowly tailored decision-making to reduce risk of discrimination claims.

3. How PHAs actually act: local variance and common practices

In practice, PHAs and federally-subsidized property owners exercise wide discretion. Background-check practices reported in 2024 describe look-back periods commonly ranging from three to seven years and sometimes longer for violent or drug-related felonies; some PHAs adopt categorical bars for certain offenses, while others use case-by-case evaluations ^[1]. Because the proposed uniform rule was withdrawn, this patchwork remains. Applicants with felony convictions older than three years may be eligible in many jurisdictions, but they can still face denial where a PHA’s local policy is stricter or where owners apply longer look-backs for serious offenses ^[1].

4. Stakes and tradeoffs: safety, reentry, and potential legal risk

PHAs confront competing priorities: public safety and fair housing. Stricter look-backs and categorical exclusions reduce perceived risks but raise legal and policy concerns under HUD’s fair housing guidance; looser or shorter look-backs advance reentry and reduce barriers but generate local political pushback and safety worries ^{[6] [3]}. The withdrawal of a federal three-year rule means PHAs must balance these tradeoffs themselves, often guided by local crime data, stakeholder pressure, and risk tolerance, with HUD oversight limited to challenging discriminatory or overbroad screening practices.

5. What applicants and advocates should do now

Applicants, legal advocates, and service providers should treat eligibility as jurisdiction-specific: request the PHA’s written criminal-history policy, ask whether particular convictions fall under categorical exclusions, and document individualized assessments where denials occur. Advocacy should focus on enforcing HUD’s anti-arrest and anti-disparate-impact guidance while encouraging PHAs to adopt narrowly tailored policies that consider the nature of the offense, time elapsed, and evidence of rehabilitation. Stakeholders should also monitor PHA policy changes following the January 2025 withdrawal and any subsequent HUD guidance updates ^{[2] [5] [4]}.

Sources: Summarized from HUD proposals, withdrawals, and guidance and industry reporting on PHA practice ^{[1] [2] [3] [5] [4] [6]}.