Complete List of Apartments That Accept Felons

How can I find felony friendly apartments near me? Every felon looking for a rental encounters landlords that refuse to rent to them because of the felony on their record.

Avoid corporate landlords running large apartment communities. They tend to have the least felony friendly policies.

Instead, approach independent landlords. Explaining your situation to private owners who understand that people make mistakes, is a much better way to find apartments that don’t do background checks.

This guide will show you 10 ways to find independent landlords and background friendly apartments.

How Can I Find Felony Friendly Apartments Near Me in 2024?

Your search for felony friendly landlords needs to be multi-faceted and leave no stone un-turned. To find felony approved apartments near me, try the options in the list below.

1. Leverage your personal network
2. Use better online research methods
3. Post on local forums
4. Search offline
5. Get professional help from apartment finders
6. Work with reentry providers
7. Contact housing charities and nonprofits
8. Check low-income housing
9. Look for rooms to rent
10. Search the sex offender registry

1. Leverage Your Personal Network

Talk to friends, relatives, and coworkers to find out if they own any rentals. Ask them to reach out to their wider network too.

You might only know 15 people, but if each one of those reaches out to their network, that’s hundreds of people who may know a landlord or two you could approach.

Estimates in 2019, put the number of Americans with a felony conviction at over 24 million. Those felons not in prison all live somewhere. Most will have numerous friends, relatives, coworkers, neighbors, and others making up their social circle.

This means millions of Americans know where convicted felons live, or, they know someone who knows a convicted felon and can find out who they rent from.

Leveraging personal connections could uncover rental opportunities you won’t find any other way.

2. Use Better Online Search Methods

Apartment owners and private landlords rarely state that they rent to felons in their listings or on their websites.

That’s why searching online for “felon friendly housing near me” doesn’t work very well.

You can certainly try typing “second chance rentals for felons”, or “no background check apartments near me”, into your favorite search engine. You might get lucky and find some flexible landlords.

Using “near me” searches is the perfect way to find a local pizza restaurant or an emergency plumber. But searching for housing that rent to felons is generally a waste of time because landlords don’t promote their rentals using terms like “felon friendly”, “felonies OK”, or “we accept felons”.

Search engines can’t give you information that doesn’t exist.

Looking for no criminal background check apartments near me on major rental platforms like Zillow or Apartments.com doesn’t work very well either because so many are owned by property management groups with strict tenant acceptance policies.

Felons have much better success searching on the platforms used by millions of private landlords. Private landlords are more likely to look past your felony if your income and credit history show you can afford the rent and pay your bills on time.

The best platforms to find rentals from private landlords are:

• Craigslist
• Facebook Marketplace

Please be sure to read some guides on how to avoid rental scams. While most listings are genuine, scammers are present on every platform and marketplace.

Craigslist

Craigslist has dedicated websites for most large cities (and nearby areas).

1. Go to: https://geo.craigslist.org/iso/us
2. Select your city from the list
3. Look under the housing section.

Use the filters to narrow down your search by location, price, bedrooms, pet policies, etc.

Most of the listings are from landlords with family-owned apartment buildings or individuals renting out a small number of homes.

Rental listings won’t usually say “felonies OK”. Most won’t mention the tenant acceptance policy at all. To find out if they run background checks or rent to felons, you’ll need to talk to the landlords.

Realtors and property managers also list rentals on Craigslist that sometimes turn out to be apartments for felons. Again, you’ll need to ask to find out.

Facebook Marketplace

Searching on Facebook Marketplace is another great way to find private landlords. With the app’s filters and messaging system, finding potential rentals and asking landlords questions is easy.

If you’re already on Facebook, sign in to your account and choose Marketplace from the menu.

If you don’t use Facebook, go to: https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/ and create an account. You can search for rentals without an account, but you won’t be able to message the owners.

• Use the location filter to input your city or town
• Choose property rentals
• Set your price range, number of bedrooms, etc.
• Toggle the button to only see rentals listed by individuals

When you contact landlords on these platforms, express interest in renting the property then ask for details about viewing, how to apply, and application fees.

When a background check is required, be upfront about your felony, it won’t always be disqualifying. If it is disqualifying, it’s better to get turned down before you spend money to apply.

3. Post On Local Forums

Join local online groups and forums and ask for help. You might think no one would bother to help or you’ll only get negative responses, but the reality is quite different. Lots of people love to help whoever they can.

Explain that you’re having trouble finding a place to live because of your felony and ask for suggestions. Be friendly, always respond politely, and thank everyone who offers help.

You could even catch the attention of a landlord willing to rent to you.

Post on:

• Subreddit for your city
• Local Facebook groups (including landlord groups)
• City-Data Forum for your city

4. Search Offline

Plenty of small-time landlords rely on word of mouth or local advertising to find new tenants.

Visit neighborhoods in your price range and look out for “for rent” signs in windows and front yards.

Check notice boards at local stores, gas stations, libraries, food pantries, bookstores, churches…

Any place where people pin business cards and wanted/for sale ads often has cards advertising local rentals.

Drop by local businesses and venues (nail bars, salons, barber shops, tattoo parlors, bars, convenience stores, coffee shops, auto shops, etc.) to say you’re apartment hunting in the area.

Ask if anyone can point you to apartment buildings or landlords that either rent to felons or don’t run background checks.

5. Get Professional Help From Apartment Finders

Talking to a second-chance apartment finder could be the quickest way to find your next apartment.

Second-chance apartment finders in your area already have a database of landlords and housing for felons.

You’ll need to give the apartment finder details about your criminal history and may need to go through a background check to verify your information.

Once the apartment finder has the full picture, they’ll try to match you with landlords based on the type and age of your felony.

To find second-chance apartment finders:

• Look for posts on social media
• Check Craigslist
• Search online for second-chance apartment finders (your city)
• Contact local real estate agents

Some second-chance apartment finders restrict their services to renters with evictions or bad credit. When you make your initial inquiry make sure you say “I need help finding felon friendly apartments near me” so you don’t waste time giving all of your details to the wrong services.

6. Work With Reentry Providers

Reentry providers are an essential resource for felons. Whether you need supportive, transitional (halfway) housing or want to rent a house or apartment, working with a reentry advisor is a better option than struggling alone.

When you work with a reentry advisor, you’ll get help finding temporary and long-term housing.

Reentry advisors can tap into local networks you can’t access. Local felon-friendly landlords might only take referrals, for example.

Some reentry services only work with returning citizens released in the last 12 months, while others will do their best to help, no matter how old your felony conviction is.

Find reentry providers through:

• Probation/parole officers
• Your state’s corrections or justice department website
• Online search for criminal reentry services (your city)
• United Way helpline at 2-1-1

7. Contact Housing Charities & Nonprofits

Charities and nonprofits offer services and support to anyone facing housing difficulties.

Some charities operate shelters and group homes to cover immediate housing needs, some own rental housing, and others can refer you to landlords who accept felons.

• United Way

Call the free United Way helpline at 2-1-1 to ask about housing charities and other housing resources near you.

• Catholic Charities

Use their website to search for your nearest agency: https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/about-us/find-a-local-agency/.

• Salvation Army

Services are provided through a network of shelters. Find your local Salvation Army: https://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/provide-shelter/

• Abode

Find your local agency: https://abode.org/need-help

(limited to several California counties)

• DePaul USA

Access services: https://depaulusa.org/programs/housing-services/

8. Check Low-Income Housing

Low-income housing providers often have felon-friendly tenant acceptance policies. Being felon friendly doesn’t mean they accept all felons, though. You’ll still need to go through a background check and approval will depend on the type of felony and its age.

What qualifies as low income? Qualifying incomes are calculated on household size and based on the median income in a city or county.

Search for low-income housing providers on the Affordable Housing website where each listing shows the applicable income limit: https://www.affordablehousing.com/.

A low income could also qualify you for housing assistance programs that help you pay your rent. Contact your local public housing authority to find out how to get rent assistance or a place in public housing.

9. Look For Rooms To Rent

Roommate-wanted and room-to-rent listings are other options to look at.

Renters in shared houses will sometimes enter into unofficial arrangements (no background or credit checks) to replace a roommate who moved out.

You can also find rooms to rent from homeowners looking to make some extra income by leasing a spare room or finished basement. Homeowners open to a cash rental don’t usually ask too many questions.

If a room rental would suit your needs, respond to roommate listings on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace. Ask about the application process, and follow up on the rentals that don’t mention a background check.

10. Search The Sex Offender Registry

Searching the sex offenders’ registry is an unusual and time-consuming way to find landlords that rent to felons, but it works.

Even among landlords willing to rent to felons, most draw the line at sex offenders. If a landlord accepts sex offenders as tenants, they’ll likely accept anyone.

The sex offender registry helps you find second chance apartments that accept felons because the publicly viewable information for each sex offender includes their address.

Work your way through the registry and use the address information to get some housing leads.

Here’s how to use this method:

1. Go to The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Website at: https://www.nsopw.gov/
2. Input any local address
3. Select the search radius (1-3 miles)
4. Toggle the map to show the satellite view
5. Identify which address markers show apartment buildings
6. Find contact details for the apartment building
7. Repeat using different addresses.

Some states don’t provide geographic coordinates to the NSOPW. If you’re in one of those states, go to your state sex offender registry to run your search.

You can input any address – your own, or a nearby business. Because the widest search radius is 3 miles, you’ll need to use multiple addresses to search your city.

Once you’ve found apartment buildings, copy/paste the addresses into your search engine to get the apartment contact details.

That wraps up this guide. Hopefully, these suggestions have given you some new ways to find apartments for rent.

Read Also: Is it legal to Discriminate against Felons for Housing?