Denver Law Would End Source-of-Income Discrimination

It takes tremendous luck to win a housing voucher lottery, with far more demand than supply available of housing subsidies. Even after winning vouchers to help subsidize the cost of rent, some renters still face the tough task of finding a landlord that will accept vouchers as rental payment.

"Now, a Denver City Council member is proposing an amendment that would force landlords to open their doors to more people," reports Andrew Kenney.

Councilwoman At-large Robin Kniech’s new bill, introduced today, would require Denver landlords to accept all forms of payment, including vouchers, ending what she describes as a form of discrimination. It would not apply to owner-occupied duplexes and single-family homes, but it would apply to for-rent houses.

Denver would join Washington, D.C. and dozens more cities [pdf] around the country that have passed similar laws. The Texas State Legislature, on the other hand, passed a state law that banned laws like the one proposed in Denver.

In a separate article on the proposed law, Rachel Kaufman notes that Colorado legislation that would ban source-of-income discrimination statewide failed in committee.