The proposed law would eliminate a significant hurdle for many recipients of federal housing vouchers.
A proposed ordinance would ban Kansas City, Missouri landlords from discriminating based on the source of a tenant’s income, including federal housing vouchers as well as “Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, child support, tipped wages and rental assistance as a broad category of aid.”
As Mary Salmonsen explains in Smart Cities Dive, “The aim of this update to the city’s code is to increase the number of properties that will accept renters regardless of their source of income, reduce homelessness and eliminate situations in which Section 8 housing voucher holders cannot find any housing that will accept their vouchers, according to the ordinance text.”
Landlords would be fined up to $1,000 and have their rental permits placed on probation if found in violation of the ordinance. “This move follows the adoption of a Renters’ Bill of Rights in Kansas City in 2019. More than 120 other jurisdictions have passed similar bans on source of income discrimination, according to NPR in Kansas City.”
FULL STORY: Kansas City, Missouri, proposal would ban discrimination based on housing vouchers
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