And the New York City Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which enforces the law barring such “source of income” discrimination, has seen similar problems. Commission staffers posing as renters have encountered landlords who tell them out-and-out that they won’t accept Section 8 housing subsidies, according to CHR’s deputy commissioner.
In its report, the Fair Housing Justice Center – a three-year-old legal project of HELP USA, a local nonprofit provider of housing and social services to the homeless – tracked rental ads on local listings at the website craigslist and found numerous advertisements excluding prospective tenants with government income. The language in the ads was so obvious that Center staffers searched craigslist.org using phrases such as “no government programs” and “no Section 8.”
The ads tracked by the Center were posted by real estate brokers and companies. Researchers found more than 360 ads with language excluding Section 8 and other subsidies posted on craigslist.org during July.
However, the human rights commission says brokers aren’t flouting the new law as often as the study claims. “The report’s a little exaggerated,” said Cliff Mulqueen, deputy commissioner and general counsel at CHR. “There aren’t that many people who are violating the law."
He says not all of the apartments the Center found on craigslist with anti-subsidy language actually are covered by the new law. If an owner has one or more buildings, but each with five or fewer apartments, he is allowed to reject subsidized tenants.
But according to the Center's interpretation, brokers for such owners can’t use discriminatory language in their ads, even if owners can. Mulqueen disagrees, saying brokers for the smaller buildings also are exempted. The state Division of Licensing Services couldn’t be reached immediately for comment on its interpretation of the law for brokers.
Even without the broker-versus-owner distinction, there have been numerous violations, by CHR’s own numbers. The commission has looked into nearly 80 cases of income bias since the law’s passage in March. Of those, the commission’s staff resolved 15 by calling the person or company in violation. Of the roughly 60 remaining cases, just over 30 cases are open, with one pending trial. The others were closed after settlements, “administrative” closures or other actions.
Turning away tenants because of their source of income, such as Section 8 vouchers, was banned by City Council earlier this year, when the Council amended the city’s Human Rights Law. It now disallows discrimination based on “lawful source of income,” including Social Security or local, state or federal public assistance, such as Section 8 vouchers. The law’s passage came after a political disagreement between Mayor Bloomberg and City Council. Though backed by General Welfare Committee Chairman Bill de Blasio and many other councilmembers over its two-year journey into law, Bloomberg vetoed the legislation in February because he objected to private landlords being required to participate in government programs. But Council voted to override in late March.
