Ballot Measure Seeks to End Discrimination Based on Source of Rental Income in Lincoln, Nebraska

In Lincoln, Nebraska, housing advocates and national civic engagement organizations hope that a ballot measure in a May 6th special election can end the practice and allow tenants to tap into vital rent affordability assistance such as the federal Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. In 2022, more than 2 million families nationwide used housing vouchers, rental assistance that subsidizes households’ rent. “Source of income discrimination is when someone is turned away from housing because of the way that they would pay for that housing,” said Kasey Ogle, a senior staff attorney at Appleseed Nebraska, an organization that advocates for just causes. “It is a common and pervasive practice to turn tenants away because of Section 8 housing vouchers.”

In the absence of federal protection for voucher holders, source of income discrimination has frequently served as a proxy for race, disability, and gender discrimination. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), some 66% of federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) recipients are Black or Latino; 26% of households with an HCV have at least one family member living with a disability; and 77% of HCV households are female headed. In St. Louis, Missouri, for example, 94% of HCV recipients identify as Black or African American: “A refusal to accept [HCVs] means African-Americans are disproportionately turned away from these housing providers” (Metropolitan St. Louis Equal Housing and Opportunity Council, Locked Out/Locked In: Section 8 Discrimination in St. Louis City, 2019). 

To codify source-of-income discrimination protections, Ogle and other advocates are working with national groups such as the Fairness Project, a nonprofit with a track record of effecting change through ballot measure initiatives. After the coalition crafted a persuasive message and outreach plan, it gathered more than 15,300 signatures to get source-of-income discrimination protections on the ballot. Lincoln’s City Council unanimously voted in early March to have the ballot proposition ready for voters.

Ogle said that the proposition amends the city’s ordinances on antidiscrimination laws to include lawful sources of income as a protected class in housing matters. The amendment also empowers the local equal employment opportunity commission investigative unit, the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights, to investigate and prosecute complaints of discrimination based on the source of income.

“About a third of people who get a housing choice voucher from the local housing authority have to return that voucher because they’re unable to find someplace that will rent to them using that voucher,” Ogle said. If tenants are unable to find a suitable home, the vouchers must be returned to the housing authority. Because Section 8 vouchers are annually renewed, the risk of not being able to remain in a home due to source of income discrimination is palpable. Sometimes the landlord has refused to renew a lease because they do not want to cooperate with the housing authority anymore, Ogle said. In Lincoln, the number of people without a home as of January 2025 rose by almost 10% from January 2024. Some of those displacements occurred due to almost 2,400 eviction filings last year in Lancaster County, where Lincoln is the county seat.

As of 2025, only 24 states (including Maryland) and roughly 180 municipalities have clear antidiscrimination laws based on source of income, with some others joining in, according to a recent policy memo from the Washington, D.C.-based Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC). For example, Kansas City, Missouri passed an ordinance in June 2024.

 These state laws and local ordinances have varying degrees of effectiveness. Only about 60% of voucher holders are protected against source-of-income discrimination, the PRRAC estimates. 

National advocates who helped get the Lincoln proposition on the ballot say propositions are a good way to get around legislative logjam. Kelly Hall, the executive director of the Fairness Project, said that local advocates tried to get the City Council in Lincoln to pass source-of-income discrimination protections. Hall said this ballot measure may get these protections across the finish line.

Read the April 16, 2025 Prism article.

Read the March 19, 2025 ABA American Bar Association article.

(Image courtesy of Kansas City, Missouri.)

New York State Attorney General's Office Stops Illegal Source of Income Housing Discrimination in the Albany Capital Region

 

New York Attorney General Letitia James has stopped two brothers and their spouses who own three rental buildings in the Capital Region from illegally denying housing opportunities to low-income renters. An investigation by the New York Office of the Attorney General (OAG), found that Greg and John Karian – who own or manage 24 rental units in buildings located in Glenmont, Albany, and Troy – violated New York’s human rights laws by refusing to rent to New Yorkers with housing vouchers. The Karians advertised that they do not accept Section 8 vouchers and charged exorbitant fees on late rent payments in violation of the law. As part of a settlement with OAG, the Karians and their employees must rent at least three units to applicants using housing vouchers, undergo anti-discrimination training, and take other actions to make housing more accessible for low-income renters.

Rental vouchers such as the Section 8 Housing Choice voucher program provide housing assistance to the lowest-income households to rent decent, safe housing in the private market. These programs also aid senior citizens and disabled persons on fixed incomes, displaced families, and homeless individuals with disabilities.

The OAG opened an investigation into the Karians’ alleged discrimination in September 2024 after online rental listings for their properties warned that they did not accept renters using Section 8. Throughout the investigation, OAG found multiple instances of discriminatory practices, including refusing to rent, lease, or negotiate with prospective tenants who intended to pay for some or all of their rent with housing subsidies; advertising that their rental properties do not accept Section 8 housing vouchers; and charging exorbitant fees of $100 for late rental payments.

The settlement with OAG requires the Karians: (1) to rent at least three units to applicants who use a housing subsidy within the next year, and must also renew the lease of these tenants for at least a one-year term, provided the tenant elects to renew; (2) to attend anti-discrimination training and implement an anti-discrimination policy to distribute to everyone involved in the rental process at their properties; (3) to publicly advertise their acceptance of Section 8 and other housing subsidies by placing an “Equal Housing Opportunity” sign at each of their properties and indicate they are an “Equal Housing Opportunity Provider” on any advertisement, listing, or social media post; (4) to provide OAG with copies of the application, lease, and renewal lease of any applicant or tenant who pays for all or some of their rent with housing subsidies and must update their lease to limit late fees to 5% of the monthly rent or $50, whichever is lower, and solely one late fee may be charged per month; and (5) to pay $3,000 in penalties and $6,000 more if they do not comply with the terms of OAG’s agreement.

It is illegal in New York State for any owner, managing agent, broker, or any other representative to refuse to rent, sell, or lease housing to any person based on their source of income. New Yorkers who suspect they are victims of source of income discrimination are encouraged to file a complaint online.

Read the April 15, 2025 New York State Attorney General's office press release.