The Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law is offering a free webinar entitled Access to Affordable Housing for People with Criminal Records on Monday September 14, 2015 from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm.

People with criminal records often face obstacles to obtaining affordable housing. They can be denied housing based on arrests without subsequent convictions, old and outdated convictions, or criminal records that have nothing to do with a person's ability to be a good tenant. In this Advocacy in Action webinar, presenters will share their experiences using litigation and advocacy to eliminate such barriers to federally subsidized housing and housing in the private rental market.

Presenters:

• Marie Claire Tran-Leung, a former Shriver Center attorney and author of When Discretion Means Denial: A National Perspective on Criminal Records Barriers to Federally Subsidized Housing, will open the webinar. 
   
• Fred Fuchs of Texas RioGrande Legal Aid will discuss his success challenging unreasonably long lookback periods used by AIMCO, one of the largest owners and operators of apartments in the country.
   
• John Relman, managing attorney of Relman, Dane & Colfax PLLC, will discuss Fortune Society v. Sandcastle Towers Housing Development Fund Corporation, one of the first cases to challenge a private landlord's blanket housing ban on applicants with criminal records as a civil rights violation under the Fair Housing Act. 
   
• Laura Tuggle, executive director of Southeast Louisiana Legal Services and former general counsel for the Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO), will talk about the strides made, setbacks experienced, and lessons learned in the ongoing advocacy campaign to improve HANO's criminal-records policies. 

Register for the Webinar