Fuente de fondos

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Whether you have a Housing Choice Voucher, SSDI, or other form of rental assistance, your source of funds is protected from housing discrimination by federal and Virginia fair housing laws.

Source of funds refers to any source that lawfully provides funds to or on behalf of a renter or buyer of housing, including any assistance, benefit, or subsidy program, whether such program is administered by a governmental or nongovernmental entity.
 

Federal Protections

The Fair Housing Act bars more than intentionally discriminatory conduct – it also bars policies that have an unjustified discriminatory effect based on a protected class.

Discriminatory Effect:

A practice has a discriminatory effect where it actually or predictably results in a disparate impact on a group of persons or creates, increases, reinforces, or perpetuates segregated housing patterns because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, or national origin.

Discriminatory Conduct Under the Fair Housing Act (24 C.F.R. § 100.500)

10.2 million people in 5.2 million American households use federal rental assistance. The Housing Choice Voucher Program is the nation’s largest rental assistance program helping more than 5 million people in 2.2 million low-income families afford private rental housing. In a 2017 HUD report, housing choice voucher holder heads-of-households were 48.5% black, 17.3% Latino, 79.3% female, and 43.6% disabled.

By creating rental policies that automatically disqualify those using rental assistance, like Housing Choice Vouchers, from applying, property managers and landlord are causing a discriminatory effect that exclude people of color, women, families with children, and people with disabilities.

Even if the practice is not motivated by a discriminatory intent, the effect still results in unlawful discrimination.
 


 

Virginia Protections

Source of funds, or source of income, became a protected class in the Virginia Fair Housing Law on July 1, 2020. It is unlawful to discriminate because of any source that lawfully provides funds to or on behalf of a renter or buyer of housing, including any assistance, benefit, or subsidy program, whether such program is administered by a governmental or nongovernmental entity.

Algunos ejemplos de fuentes de financiación son:

  • Vales de elección de vivienda (Sección 8)
  • Ingreso por Discapacidad del Seguro Social (SSDI)
  • Ingreso de Seguridad Suplementario (SSI)
  • Departamento de Vivienda y Desarrollo Urbano de los EE.UU.-Viviendas de apoyo VA (HUD-VASH)
  • Fondos del Programa de Ayuda al Alquiler
  • Asistencia de alquiler de emergencia de entidades sin fines de lucro
  • Y otros

Examples of discrimination may include:

  • Un propietario cobra más o exige un depósito adicional cuando se presenta un bono de vivienda.
  • Declarar "No Section 8" en un listado de alquileres o en un anuncio.
  • Un propietario que hace comentarios denigrantes sobre si un inquilino merece o no sus prestaciones por discapacidad, su vale de elección de vivienda u otra ayuda.
  • Negarse a alquilar a un inquilino que, por lo demás, reúne los requisitos necesarios, debido a los estereotipos sobre las personas que reciben ayuda económica.
  • A landlord setting an income requirement for a tenant with a Housing Choice Voucher, but not factoring in the amount paid by the Voucher.*

*Though income qualifying criteria is not inherently discriminatory, housing providers must take care not to apply the criteria in a manner that will automatically disqualify tenants who receive assistance. Tenants with Housing Choice Vouchers have a portion of their rent paid by a third party. So if the income criteria is 3x the rent, the amount paid for by the Voucher should be subtracted from the total rent to ensure the criteria is only applying to the portion that the tenant is responsible for. See page four of the Virginia Real Estate Board’s Guidance document for more information.

Los propietarios están obligados por ley a tratar a todos los solicitantes de la misma manera, independientemente de la fuente legal de fondos que se utilice para pagar el alquiler. Esto incluye el examen del historial de crédito y de alquiler, la suficiencia de fondos y la comprobación de los antecedentes. Recibir ayuda financiera no debería descalificar automáticamente a alguien para alquilar.
 

 

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The work that provided the basis for this event was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.

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