RE: Report on Fair Housing Investigation Uncovers National Origin and Source ofIncome Discrimination

April 26, 2021
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
Contacts:
Caroline Peattie / peattie@fairhousingnorcal.org
 
RE: Report on Fair Housing Investigation Uncovers National Origin and Source of
Income Discrimination
 
As Fair Housing Month draws to a close, and Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California
(FHANC) gears up for its annual Fair Housing Conference on Thursday, April 29 (“Riding the
Wave of Change: Advancing Fair Housing and Equity in a New Era,”), it is releasing its
report of an investigation conducted in 2020, “National Origin and Source of Income
Discrimination in Rental Housing in Marin, Sonoma, and Solano Counties.” The
investigation was conducted after California SB329 – amending the Fair Employment and
Housing Act to expand the definition of source of income to include federal, state, and local
public assistance and housing subsidies – went into effect on January 1, 2020.
 
The investigation followed a prior audit in 2018-2019 that assessed the extent to which Housing
Choice Voucher holders experienced race discrimination, and was conducted prior to the state
law going into effect. The investigation revealed a high level of discrimination, where 67% of
tests showed at least some level of discrimination based on race and/or source of income.
 
“Given how much race and source of income discrimination we found with our earlier
investigation, we wanted to see the extent to which Latinx Housing Choice Voucher holders
experience discrimination or differential treatment in the initial stages of their home seeking
process, based on their voucher status or their national origin,” said Caroline Peattie, Executive
Director of FHANC. “We know from our clients that many landlords turn away voucher
holders, but we wanted to see to what extent this occurred, and whether it was a pretext for
discouraging Latinx renters.”
 
FHANC conducted 139 individual investigations, 48 in Marin County, 46 in Solano County,
and 45 in Sonoma County. The investigation revealed housing providers discriminated on the
basis of national origin and/or source of income in approximately seventy-nine percent (79%) of
the time. Of the tests revealing discrimination, 55% were based on source of income, 13% were
based on both source of income and national origin, and 11% were based on national origin.
Examples of the types of discrimination that investigators encountered included outright refusal
to rent to voucher holders; discriminatory policies (like minimum income requirement) that
effectively prohibit voucher holders from renting at the property; and/or inferior
terms/conditions and general treatment to Latinx voucher holders as compared to white (non-
Latinx) voucher holders.
 
“What is particularly problematic about this result is the high rate of discrimination against
voucher holders that occurred even after the passage of SB329,” said Peattie. “And though our
investigation in Marin County revealed the lowest levels of discrimination at 71% in the tricounty
area, that’s still extremely high, particularly considering that local source of income
protections had been in place since 2016 in the County and 2018 in various cities and towns.
The investigation shows that it’s still very difficult for someone with a housing subsidy to find a
place to live, and it becomes that much harder for a voucher holder who is Latinx.”
 
As a result of follow-up investigation and after receiving a complaint from a client who had
been effectively denied from renting because she had a housing voucher, FHANC recently filed
a lawsuit against a management company and the owners of two buildings in Sonoma County
for having a minimum income policy that – while neutral on its face as applied to voucher
holders – has the effect of denying them the ability to rent at the property, despite
management’s assurances that they accept vouchers.
 
“It’s not enough just to pass legislation,” said Peattie. “That’s the first, most important step. But
our results point to the need for further education, as well as follow-up investigation and
enforcement activity to ensure that landlords understand the laws and are held accountable
when they deliberately violate them. To that end we’ve sent flyers with information about the
law to properties where we found discrimination. And we’re undertaking further investigations
to retest some of the properties. But we need to go further with legislation, too.”
 
Only twelve states and the District of Columbia outlaw discrimination on the basis of source of
income. The Biden administration, in a swift reversal from the previous administration, signaled
fair housing and racial equity as priorities in its first week. This month, President Biden pledged
to restore two Obama-era fair housing rules that had been scrapped under the Trump
administration. One, the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) rule, requires local
governments receiving federal housing dollars to review their policies and actively work toward
reversing segregation.
 
“Protections against source of income discrimination are crucial in order to affirmatively
furthering fair housing, because it helps stem the tide of displacement and gentrification,”
 
Peattie continued. “We undertook this investigation and the previous one to uncover the extent
to which people with housing subsidies, particularly people of color with housing subsidies,
experienced barriers to housing choice. We now have a sense of just how great those
impediments are, despite local and state protections. This shows how important it is for the
federal government to make source of income discrimination illegal across the country, so that
the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal
Opportunity can put its full strength toward enforcing the law, furthering housing opportunities
for people of color, families with children, people with disabilities, and others. It would be a
fitting tribute to Walter Mondale, who passed away earlier this month, and who co-authored the
Fair Housing Act of 1968 with Senator Ed Brooke.”
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Note: This material is based on work supported by the Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD) under FHIP EOI Grant FEOI20012. Any opinion, findings, and
conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do
not necessarily reflect the views of HUD.
 
Founded as a non-profit in 1986, Fair Housing Advocates of Northern California (FHANC)
serves several Bay Area counties, providing fair housing counseling, investigation, intervention,
and legal referrals to persons experiencing housing discrimination. FHANC conducts outreach
activities and offers programs that educate the community about fair housing and the value of
diversity, conducts trainings for housing providers, and offers pre-purchase and foreclosure
prevention counseling and education. FHANC is a HUD-Certified Housing Counseling
Agency. Please contact FHANC at (415) 457-5025 or TDD: (800) 735-2922 for more
information or visit www.fairhousingnorcal.org. Se habla español.