Serena saw an ad in a local newspaper for a 3- bedroom
cottage in Buffalo renting for $400. She went to view the apartment and
discovered it was a 2+ bedroom that had been nicely remodeled. Serena
expressed her interest in the apartment and was asked by the owner if she
received Section 8. She responded that she did have a Section 8 voucher
and was immediately informed by the owner that Section 8 recipients would
be charged $750 for rent with utilities included because that is what
Section 8 agencies will pay. Serena informed the owner that she had a
voucher for a 2-bedroom apartment and that Section 8 would only allow her
to rent a place for $608 with utilities included. The owner insisted that
the rent for Section 8 recipients would be $750.
No assistance if you’re on public
assistance
Michelle called
a local realty office for information on a 2-bedroom apartment advertised
in a community paper. The agent on the phone asked Michelle where she was
employed. Michelle explained to the agent that she was not working but
that she received public assistance from the Department of Social
Services. The agent informed Michelle that his office did not rent to
people who received public assistance.
Legal Discrimination
What do these two cases have in common?
These cases depict clients of HOME who called to report instances of
suspected source of income discrimination. The problem is that this type
of discrimination is not prohibited in Buffalo and most of the surrounding
area, and therefore there is very little that can be done to protect the
rights of these clients and many others like them.
In all of Western New York there are only
two places where source of income is a protected class, the Town of
Hamburg and the Town of West Seneca. HOME recently settled a case in one
of these areas after a client was denied housing at an apartment complex
because of her source of income even though she had the ability to pay the
rent.
This exclusion is particularly disheartening
to HOME’s Community Housing Center (CHC). The CHC serves a client base
consisting of first- time Section 8 recipients and provides services
including: assistance in locating apartments in census tracts that have
low concentrations of poverty; transportation to view available
apartments, no-interest security deposit loans, and grants for moving
expenses.
The task of finding an apartment in a
low-poverty area becomes more arduous for the CHC every time a landlord
says, “We don’t accept Section 8.” Many of those landlords who do not
accept Section 8 are located in areas of low poverty, crime, and
minorities.
Not only does this frustrate the mobility
counselors of the CHC; this discrimination frustrates home-seekers who
have a limited amount of time in which to use their voucher. These
families have been known to lose their vouchers because of lack of
available affordable housing.
Do landlords have the right to make certain
that a tenant can afford to pay the rent and maintain the property?
Certainly. But does
this mean that a landlord should be able to refuse to rent to a
prospective tenant because he does not like the tenant’s lawful source of
income? This question and its subsequent answer are at the heart of the
argument for those who support source of income becoming a protected
class. |
