Landlords’ decisions significantly shape the housing outcomes of poor and stigmatized renters. Despite this important gatekeeping role, studies of antidiscrimination law have not thoroughly examined how private market actors respond to reform efforts or how private property rights potentially enable them to evade regulation. This study draws on ethnographic data gathered between late 2015 and early 2018 to examine how and why Seattle landlords opposed an ordinance regulating the use of criminal records in rental housing. The findings indicate that landlords’ opposition stems from their expectation that property protects owners’ ability to control their exposure to risk. Yet conceptions of property and risk perception alone cannot explain how landlords can evade regulation. Toward this end, I show how private property rights facilitate adaptation by which landlords can legally circumvent the intent of the law. The study highlights the value of a sociolegal framework of property in action, which incorporates cultural notions of ownership, legal rights, and the regulatory and market environments that shape owners’ discretion. I suggest that greater attention to risk discourse and property rights will deepen our understanding of the limits of antidiscrimination law and the ability of private market actors to adapt to, and resist, legal reform efforts.

中文翻译：

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出租房屋中的风险、产权和反歧视法：迈向产权在行动框架

房东的决定极大地影响了贫穷和受污名化的租房者的住房结果。尽管起到了重要的把关作用，但对反歧视法的研究并没有彻底研究私人市场参与者如何应对改革努力，或者私有财产权如何使他们能够逃避监管。本研究利用 2015 年底至 2018 年初收集的人种学数据，研究西雅图房东如何以及为何反对一项监管出租房屋犯罪记录使用的法令。调查结果表明，房东的反对源于他们期望财产保护业主控制风险敞口的能力。然而，仅财产和风险感知的概念并不能解释房东如何逃避监管。为此，我展示了私有财产权如何促进房东可以合法地规避法律意图的适应。该研究强调了行动中财产的社会法律框架的价值，该框架包含了所有权、法律权利以及塑造所有者自由裁量权的监管和市场环境的文化概念。我建议更多地关注风险话语和财产权将加深我们对反歧视法的局限性以及私人市场参与者适应和抵制法律改革努力的能力的理解。