SEPS and LINC Tenants

[Daylan1309]

Hello,

I've recently taken on a client who's a friend-of-a-friend who's looking for a studio apartment in Queens. She's a SEPs recipient, so it's been a bit difficult to find a landlord who is willing to rent to her. I've recently been told by another agent that it is illegal to discriminate against government aided individuals, and that it would fall under "income-based discrimination". I understand the reluctance on the part of the landlords, being one myself. Does anyone know if this is true?

Thanks,

[aslan]

Hi Daylan, I don't have too much experience with voucher and government assistance programs, but I believe NYC like Chicago may have some local Fair Housing Laws against income source discrimination. I don't think being on a voucher program is a protected class according to Federal Fair Housing Laws, but again NYC is very liberal and may have some further protections.

With that said, I'm almost certain that these local laws would only apply to larger landlords with 6 or more units being rented out. It wouldn't apply at all to smaller landlords, say multi family properties.

With that said, landlords can still deny applicants for the same reasons as anyone else, such as poor credit, evictions, housing court etc. And it's statistically more likely that folks on voucher programs may not have as high credit scores etc. as applicants not on these programs. Just my two cents.

Good luck!

P.S. Your friend should qualify for free legal assistance, so it's best to ask a lawyer about these matters

[showtime]

Your instincts are right. NYC has its own Human Rights Law, and it's one of the strongest and toughest anti-discrimination laws in the country.

Check out the link below for more information on just how illegal it is to discriminate based on income source. Mayor DeBlasio has been fighting it heavily and has ramped up the use of "testers" to catch brokers and landlords who are illegally refusing tenants based on source of income, i.e. whether they are paying rent with government assistance such as Section 8 or LINC etc.