LANSING — State legislators advanced a bill package this week to stem income-based housing discrimination. The proposals would prevent most landlords from not renting to individuals who receive legal income from assistance programs.
Currently, landlords may treat a tenant or prospective renter differently based on their income source. Advocates say this discrimination can further disadvantage people who may be already struggling to find stable housing.
“The legislation will prevent landlords from discriminating against a tenant based on his or her source of income, be it emergency rental assistance, rent vouchers or subsidies,” said Rep. Jennifer Conlin, D-Ann Arbor. “Legitimate income counts for purposes of meeting a landlord’s desired threshold.”
In Michigan, nearly 150,000 households receive some form of federal assistance, a majority of those being seniors, veterans or disabled individuals.
“People receiving income from these programs are hardworking families, fixed income seniors and veterans who bravely served their country,” said Jacob Toomey, legislative director to Rep. Jason Morgan, D-Ann Arbor. “These are folks who love their community, want their children to succeed, are working honest jobs and are just trying to make ends meet.”
The prohibition on income discrimination would only apply to landlords who own five or more units. Landlords of all sizes would still be able to consider credit score and rental history when making housing decisions.
Advocates also say that the ability to discriminate based on income source opens the door for other types of discrimination, which would otherwise be banned under state law.
“Those who receive vouchers are disproportionately members of protected classes under federal and state fair housing laws, suggesting bias against voucher recipients may be proxy for other forms of discrimination people face in the overall housing system,” said Lisa Chapman, director of public policy for MI Coalition Against Homelessness.
If a landlord were found to be in violation of the policy, they could be forced to pay up to three times monthly rent to the tenant.
Opponents of the proposals say that equating income source with other protected classes doesn’t make sense based on the severity and frequency of types of discrimination.
“Do you think that source of income is the same type of pernicious discrimination as something like racial discrimination on its own terms?,” asked Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Adams Twp. “And I understand you might say that it’s sometimes used as essentially a proxy for that, but it’s not the same thing.”
The bills were passed out of House committee this week, setting some up for passage by the full House in the coming weeks. Other bills in the package already passed the Senate on party-line votes.