richard wrote:

Unless state law requires it, no real estate agent is required to do a
background check. In most states, it is illegal to deny an ex-con
housing based on this fact. Let alone a person on probation.

Huh? In my state, an ex-con cannot be a lawyer, schoolteacher, accountant,
become a barber, cosmetologist, surveyor, architect, get a hazardous
chemical endorsement for their driver's license, own an exterminating
company, nursery (either plant or kid), vote, become a notary, sell
securities, be a REALTOR(!), or drive a cab.

I'd be astonished to learn that ANY state outlaws discrimination against a
felon.