The Maryland HOME Act: HB 231 Floor Vote is this week!
Call or email your Delegate NOW!
Maryland HOME Act: HB 231, sponsored by Del. Brooke Lierman, will ban housing discrimination based on source of income statewide. Last Thursday, the bill PASSED the House Environment and Transportation Committee in a bipartisan vote!
The bill is now headed to the HOUSE FLOOR!
PLEASE call or email your Delegate TODAY and ask him/her to
VOTE FOR a clean HOME Act and AGAINST any floor amendments!
Don't know your state Delegate? Check with your address here
We anticipate and OPPOSE 3 floor amendments that would create LARGE loopholes in MD fair housing law:
Imposing a 20% cap on voucher holders. This proposed amendment is contrary to the purpose of fair housing laws and means 80% discrimination against voucher holders.This amendment would also make enforcement very difficult: How does a rejected tenant know whether a landlord or property has hit a certain "cap"? Urge your Delegate to vote AGAINST this amendment.
Exemption for small landlords who use Realtors or Property Managers. The Maryland fair housing law already provides an exemption for property owners who own 2 or fewer units, as long as they do not use a realtor or property manager. The opposition wants to extend that exemption to landlords who use realtors and property managers. Maryland fair housing law has never provided an exemption for landlords who use realtors or property managers because once a property owner uses a realtor or property manager, they are considered to be "in the business of" being a landlord and are expected to know and understand fair housing law. Urge your Delegate to vote AGAINST this amendment.
Exemption based on Occupation: Some landlords claim the HOME Act will prevent landlords from offering rent credits to certain occupations, like teachers. That claim is incorrect - the HOME Act does not prevent a landlord from offering rent credits or other benefits to particular occupations. Some local Maryland jurisdictions prohibit discrimination explicitly based on occupation, but Maryland state law does not and the HOME Act does not either. Urge your Delegate to vote AGAINST this amendment.
About Source of Income Discrimination
Source of income discrimination contributes to concentrations of poverty, racially segregated housing and homelessness. Over 90 local jurisdictions and 15 states prohibit this practice, including 6 counties and 3 cities in Maryland. In 2017, the American Bar Association adopted policy urging governments to prohibit the practice. It is time for Maryland to answer a moral call to action. It’s time we open up housing and job opportunities for tens of thousands of Marylanders! Read more about the Maryland statewide bill to ban source of income discrimination in housing on our website - here.
For more information about HB 231, please visit our WEBSITE for the full text and fact sheets or contact Antonia Fasanelli at afasanelli@hprplaw.org or Matt Hill at hillm@publicjustice.org
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Received from Beyond the Boundaries, March 5, 2020
