More Cities and Counties Arming Renters Against Source of Income Discrimination

"A controversial measure to bar landlords from discriminating against renters who use housing vouchers appears to be stalled because of recent vacancies on the St. Louis County Council," reports Janelle O'Dea.

First-term Councilwoman Lisa Clancy, D-5th District, is leading the charge to write source of income discrimination into the county's fair housing code. "If adopted, the change would make it easier for people who participate in the Housing Choice Voucher program — still widely known as “Section 8” — to find places to live in the county," explains O'Dea.

The feature-length article includes a lot of detail about subsidized housing in the county, as well as the growing acceptance of laws to counter source of income discrimination in the county's 88 municipalities. Despite a law intended to prevent source of income discrimination in the city of St. Louis, the practice is still widespread, according to O'Dea, so work needs to be done to improve the effectiveness of existing laws as well.