By 2015, however, in the midst of a deepening affordable housing crisis, many local landlords had adopted blanket discrimination policies against Section 8, even though their rents were at or below the Section 8 payment standard. The impact on low-income residents like Ellie was severe: they were spending time and money applying for such apartments, only to get turned away because of the voucher.

So in May of 2015, the Santa Monica City Council added “source of income” to the City’s list of tenant characteristics (such as disability and family status) that are protected from discrimination. (Race, religion and other classes are already protected by state and federal fair housing laws.) Adding “source of income” to that list 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. The new law recently survived a court challenge.

Read More: http://smdp.com/no-section-8-policies-by-landlords-now-unlawful-in-santa-monica/161666