Lone Star Landlords Get Green Light To Nix Prospective Tenants Who Receive Section 8, Other Public Assistance; New Statewide Law Invalidates Austin City Ordinance Against "Source Of Income" Housing Discrimination

In Austin, Texas, The Austin Chronicle reports:

• After rejection from 19 landlords across Aus­tin, Dimple Smith's U.S. Housing and Urban Development Housing Choice Vouch­er – commonly referred to as a "Section 8" voucher – was on the verge of getting revoked.
  
  Luckily, she secured a residence in the nick of time (recipients have 90 days to find housing), but it's not ideal. Unable to secure a one-story unit, the 59-year-old, who is disabled and suffers from congestive heart failure, chronic arthritis, and muscle spasms, must make do with a two-story apartment in far South Austin, facing uncomfortable daily trips from her bedroom upstairs to the living room and kitchen area below. But she supposes it's at least better than her previous unit, which was infested by bed bugs; Smith was forced to repeatedly buy new furniture on her fixed income and eventually resorted to sleeping on the floor. "When I was denied so many times, I thought, 'Oh my god, what do I do?'" she said. "The place that I got is my last option. I wasn't sure I could even get up the stairs every day, I'm disabled. I was just so pleased they said yes."
  
  While a city "source of income" ordinance would have protected Section 8 renters from the threat of constant rebuff from landlords, a new state law, which took effect on Sept. 1, invalidates the hard-fought progress won by affordable housing advocates.
  
  In December, Austin's previous Council sought to alleviate the struggle residents like Smith go through by amending the Housing Discrimination Ordinance to add source of income as a protected class. The measure was intended to grant increased housing choice to the nearly 5,800 area families receiving tenant-based rental assistance each month, including Housing Choice Voucher holders.
  
  Just a day later, the Austin Apartment Association filed suit, claiming the ordinance forces property owners to contract involuntarily with the federal government (see "Landlords Sue to Block Section 8 Renters," Dec. 19). U.S. Judge Sam Sparks harshly grilled the city's legal team during trial, but ultimately sided with the defendants, one of whom was Smith, who provided testimony (see "Sparks Flare Over City's SOI Ordinance," Jan. 30). The ordinance then got caught up in another legal limbo, as the AAA appealed to the 5th Circuit, which allowed a temporary injunction, but then vacated the ruling, allowing poor renters a temporary reprieve. But then came the legislative session.
  
  With an exception carved out for military veterans, Senate Bill 267 by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, bars cities from adopting or enforcing ordinances that compel landlords to accept renters who pay with federal housing assistance – in other words, landlords can keep on discriminating against the disadvantaged. "Businesses should not be forced to partner with a governmental agency that significantly impacts its flexibility and day-to-day operations," said Perry: Accepting vouchers was never intended to be mandatory.
  
  But what happens when it remains voluntary? A 2012 Austin Tenants' Council survey found that 91% of private landlords (544 of 600 across five counties) refused to house Section 8 voucher recipients, relegating the mostly African-American and Latino renters to "low-opportunity" areas with concentrated poverty and higher crime rates – many accepting units near Rundberg Lane and East Riverside; very few were west of MoPac. And the need for wider options is great: Earlier this year, the city's Housing Authority saw more than 19,000 applications (including 2,600 homeless applicants) to fill just 2,500 spots.

For more, see (Not) For Rent (New state law blocks Austin housing ordinance).

See also, What’s the state of Austin’s source of income protections for veterans?