Discrimination Against Voucher Holders and the Laws to Prevent It: Reviewing the Evidence on Source of Income Discrimination

Martha Galvez
NYU Furman Center Housing Solutions Lab

Brian Knudsen
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not represent the official positions or policies of the Office of Policy Development and Research, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or the U.S. Government.

Landlord discrimination against housing choice voucher holders, commonly referred to as source of income (SOI) discrimination, can undermine the benefits that vouchers offer low-income households—many of whom wait years for vouchers. Evidence of SOI discrimination grew during the past 2 decades, as the number of states and localities that passed ordinances to prevent discrimination also grew. More than one-half of all voucher households are in jurisdictions that these laws cover. This article assesses the current evidence on SOI discrimination and the effectiveness of state and local antidiscrimination laws intended to improve landlord takeup of vouchers. The authors then provide recommendations for research to document and describe voucher discrimination, understand effective enforcement of SOI protections, and identify ways to influence landlord decisions. Future research should continue to document the extent of voucher discrimination in jurisdictions without SOI laws, and evolving discriminatory practices where SOI protections are in place. To test and scale innovative enforcement and approaches to influencing landlord behavior, more research and experimentation reflecting different market contexts are also needed to understand why landlords reject vouchers.