![]() Hangen and O'Brien suggest this is largely based on negative stereotypes––such as that they are more likely to commit crimes––against Section 8 tenants, but they couldn't be further from the truth. While some landlords in these neighborhoods specialize in renting to Section 8 tenants, others refuse to rent to voucher holders. If you no longer have the subsidy, the likelihood of you being able to secure housing after you lose it dramatically decreases."Ĭontrary to previous research, Hangen and O'Brien also found that landlords in lower-opportunity neighborhoods where voucher holders are already located, not those in higher-opportunity neighborhoods, are more likely to discriminate. "If you lose the voucher, that means you no longer have the subsidy. "If you can't find a unit within that search period, then you could potentially lose the voucher," says Bridgett Simmons, staff attorney with the National Housing Law Project. Five of the 10 cities with the highest levels of SOI discrimination in the study had laws in place that explicitly prohibit it.įor families in the voucher program, the consequences of not being able to use their vouchers are potentially dire. But the majority still don't have laws in place, and even some of those that do still have SOI discrimination. Over the last few decades some states, counties and cities have started to adopt anti-SOI discrimination laws. The federal housing act of 1937 prohibits discrimination based on many factors, including race, sex, religion, national origin and disability, but not SOI. There may not even be fines associated with it." "It's out there, people can sue based on that law and you can report it to the local housing authority, but typically there's no direct enforcement. "When these laws pass, there's often no enforcement mechanism passed with it," Hangen says. ![]() But the story was different in cities such as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Tulsa, Oklahoma and Cleveland, Ohio, where discrimination was present in around 10% of listings.Įven more surprising is that discrimination is happening in some cities that have anti-SOI discrimination laws on the books. Some cities such as Madison, Wisconsin El Paso, Texas and Portland, Oregon had almost no express SOI discrimination in their listings. Landlords would post listings that outright say, "We don't accept Section 8" or "Vouchers need not apply."Īlthough discrimination against Section 8 voucher holders is well documented, Hangen says the level of discrimination he found on Craigslist was surprising. and found "significant amounts" of blatant source of income (SOI) discrimination. Hangen combed through more than 1 million Craiglist rental listings in 77 mid-sized cities across the U.S. Once a family qualifies based on their income (it can't exceed 50% of their county's median income) and is approved for the program, state entities known as public housing agencies provide families with a voucher that they can use to find housing that meets a certain level of health and safety standard.īut when Hangen started looking into housing discrimination, he discovered that the program wasn't working the way it should. Currently, about 2.1 million households receive vouchers as part of the program, and more than 80% of those families earn less than $20,000 per year. Housing Act that authorized it, is the primary way the federal government helps low-income families afford housing on the private market. The housing choice voucher program, often called Section 8 because of the section of the U.S. student, and Dan O'Brien, associate professor of public policy, urban affairs and criminology and criminal justice, the study found blatant discrimination on Craigslist against housing choice voucher holders. Published in Urban Affairs Review by Forrest Hangen, a public policy Ph.D.
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