What do you think of this?

Question

My landlord just sent out a new lease, on it regarding Megans Law, that they will NOT be responsible for doing background checks, it is up to the tenant to pick up a copy of sex offenders if they want to continue to live here. We have lots of kids here, there are two childmolesters in this park, both are charged with having sex with a child under 14. I have lived here 5 years and some people have lived here 20 years.

My children are grown and live in another state, but there are a lot of kids here

The new tenants are Mexican, I seriously doubt that they know about the website.

They are asking for a credit check after I have bought my mobile home 4 years ago, never been late one in 5 years paying rent, why do they want a credit check?????
I have a clear background check, not even a parking ticket

I will add this, many places charge you for an application fee, that price SHOULD be included. BYW, you can go into out county's website and do a criminal check, it is free and available on line
I have FOUND thee people on the sex offenders website, they live about 2-400 feet from me.

Answer 1

I was under the impression that registered sex offenders--especially those who involved CHILDREN in their crimes--were NOT ALLOWED to live so many feet from ANY place that had CHILDREN (school, residential area, etc).... if a landlord is renting to such a person KNOWING that he is a registered sex offender, then the LANDLORD most definitely should be doing something that is against the law... as well as the sex offender who is TRYING to rent from him. I guess that landlord FORGOT about 9 year old Jessica Lumsford in Florida who was brutally raped and MURDERED by a man who lived IN THE TRAILER PARK almost directly next door to this little girl.... sad thing is, if some little child is hurt by someone the LANDLORD lets in because he doesn't feel it's HIS responsibility to check the background of the tenants... how WILL he be able to live with himself...???

Answer 2

Hi Silkie,

I wonder what your local ordinances and State statutes say about registered sex offenders living near children. Some localities do have very strict laws. Also, I wonder if any of the offenders you've found on the internet are still under any sort of community control, for example, are they meeting their conditions of parole by living near children?

Even with background checks, there may not be any way to deny these offenders the ability to rent in your community. So, using the web site offender registries can arm you and your neighbors with information, and that is all it can do. Unless your landlord can deny a renter due to the background check, there may not be a reason to do them. You'd need to check state and local laws to find out what grounds can be used to deny a rental application.

Megan's Law and the registries are useful tools, especially for law enforcement agencies. However, they are not foolproof. Not every offender has been caught and convicted, there are plenty of offenders around who are not on that list because they have never been convicted. Background checks wouldn't help in these cases. So, being vigilent in watching out for kids, closely supervising the kids, is still the safest course.

Answer 3

Unfortunately, landlords, by law, have to allow these perverts to live in these apartments if they pay the rent/security deposits/etc just like everyone else does. If they don't, they can actually be shut down due to discrimination laws.
I'm not sure I totally agree with the sex offender list anyway. While having sex with someone under the age of 14 is disgusting, the list typically is for any type of sexually charged offense. This includes kids having sex with other kids who are charged because the girl's parents find out and get pissed off (my friend's son was charged with statutory rape at age 16 because he had sex with his 15 year old girl friend - he has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, and no details are given on these sites). If the list/site told what the person did and at what age (ie - had sex at age 16 with a 15 year old verses raping a 6 year old at age 30), I'd be the first in line to say it was a good thing. Sexual predators need to be stopped and kept away from our children.
Maybe you could organize a "child watch" program in your neighborhood. Set up a meeting, notify parents of what is going on, and ask them to diligently watch all the kids any time they can.
You may also be able to find out more about your neighbors' crimes with the freedom of information act prior to the meeting so that you are passing out accurate information.

Answer 4

Easy solution for the complex, require that each new tenant supply their own background check, easily obtainable and there is a fee for it. The Post Office required that we provide our own. I can't pass one anymore---pretty strange, I no longer have any fingerprints. Too many years washing my hands every 5 minutes to make sure the germs didn't pass around.
EDIT --- Most sex offenders cannot live within a certain area of children, the police will remove them if they are indeed living by children. I lived in a complex that was full of Mexicans, the problem there was the 'sex' O's moved in with the ones with the lease and then registered so the complex had no idea unless those of us with computers told them. Also when one was discovered an anonimous listing was put up in the laundry area.

Answer 5

That's disgusting. I would think the landlord would care enough about the children living there, to do a background check on potential tenants.
There is a website, meganslaw.ca.gov where you can check out convicted child molesters. That is for people convicted in California but I bet there's a place to check for this in other states.
Set up a meeting with other tenants and take turns checking out the backgrounds of potential tenants by going to that website. If you don't have access to a computer, go to the library.
The caveat here is, megans law only covers CONVICTED child molesters and most of us are aware that the majority of child molesters don't get busted. Good luck to you.

Answer 6

In the town where I live all rentals charge a fee for application and background check and credit check all in one. I just assumed it was that way most places. We also have a lot of mexicans though and the INS was here 2 weeks ago and took illegals out. So you never know who is living here that isnt on the lease. How to enforce that I dont know,they always have so many family "visiting" for long periods of time. Who knows if they are even related.

Answer 7

Boy, I have mixed feeling on this subject. Some of their offenses were so many years ago and they have grown up and changed their lives. How long have they been out of jail? How many times have they offended anyone sexually? Those questions would assure me that I have little to worry about. Where would a sex offender live, if not in our neighborhoods? Where would drug dealers and murders live? After they go for punishment, they are supposed to be regualar people again, but it never leaves them. that record goes everywhere. They are discrimated against. i wonder how many sex offenders were in my area as a child. We never even thought about it until something happened. Please don't think that I am defending them. I am not, I just think that we over react about it since we have the media to thank for bringing these things out to the public. It's not a new thing.

I will reserve my witchly ways on this question.

Answer 8

When I was a landlord, I did background checks and acted accordingly. If I didn't rent to anyone with bad credit, no way would I rent to a sex offender. Start a neighborhood watch and I'll bet the landlord changes his mind. If not I'd start trying to find another place to live.

Answer 9

There is no requirement that a landlord do background checks. Many do because they want steady, reliable tenants.

It is the PARENTS responsibility to protect their own children from danger - and that includes sex offenders. Information on the location of sex offenders is readily available for anyone who wants to find out the information.

Background checks are expensive and not all landlords want to incur the cost. It is not his/her responsibility.

Answer 10

If I am correct, it is a violation for these sex offenders to live there. I agree with Mary, make sure that the local television station is aware of these goings ons.
I don't like to snitch people off.
Sex offenders are the scum of the earth. I would make sure that everyone knew of their existence