That’s rather obvious, isn’t it? Another law on the books that is impossible to enforce.
This was my thought. I had an experience as a landlord and we subscribed to a credit check online. I do not see how the city would find out about this except that when a person is rejected for a “bad” credit report, they have the right to see the report themselves — so that they can correct it for the next time a check is run. They will only know that the landlord chose to rent to someone with a better score, which they cannot find due to the privacy statutes associated with this industry. The landlord can include the criminal check but seeing this does not mean that the applicant was rejected for this part of the check. I would simply write that someone else was selected and part of the reason was the credit check.
One thing though, the landlord needs to offer the unit at a price that is attractive enough to get multiple applicants, but landlords should know this already.
One time I rented to someone who did not pay rent, but they had a parent who countersigned and promised to pay if their kid did not. When they tenant stopped paying the father said he was no longer responsible and I should sue him. I had not thought of this possibility, and a law suit was less desirable than simply evicting the tenant. But I should have trusted the credit report which was bad in the first place.