City resolves 11 housing discrimination complaints in favor of Section 8 tenants
The Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office (CAO) has just resolved its eleventh complaint of housing discrimination using a new city law that protects Section 8 housing voucher holders. In each of the eleven cases, local landlords had told an applicant or existing tenant that they would not accept Section 8 tenants or vouchers. After the CAO’s intervention, all eleven tenants now have affordable housing using the Section 8 program. Santa Monica City Council added “source of income” to the City’s list of tenant classes that are protected from discrimination. (Race, national origin, disability, family and other classes are already protected by state and federal fair housing laws.) This new law now prevents landlords from refusing to rent to a person based on government-sponsored assistance like Section 8. It does not require landlords to reduce rents.
Read More: https://www.santamonica.gov/press/2019/02/06/santa-monica-s-enforcement-of-section-8-housing-protection-law-off-to-a-successful-start