Audit finds rampant income-based discrimination among Memphis housing providers
A years-long audit shows race and income-based discrimination against Memphis and Shelby County residents who qualify for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, more colloquially known as Section 8 housing.
The audit, conducted by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's Thurgood Marshall Institute and the National Fair Housing Alliance, scrutinized practices among Memphis and Shelby County housing providers by screening for income or race-based disparities during the application process.
Income-based discrimination outpaced race-paced discrimination; 93.8% of housing providers surveyed showed discriminatory policies compared to 37.5% that exhibited race-based discrimination.
In some portions of the audits, two "testers" — one white and one Black individual — with similar financial and personal profiles were sent to the same housing provider within a short time of one another. Those experiences were then analyzed for any disparity in treatment.
The report described the latter form of discrimination, "manifested in customer service, differences in pricing oravailability, differences in access to housing, and differences in terms and conditions," the report noted.
The income-based discrimination identified in the audit, which was conducted in phases in 2019 and 2021, found consistent discriminatory practices among housing providers.
Among the most common forms of income-based discrimination — leasing agents will tell prospective tenants that while vouchers are accepted, the same income requirements as those without vouchers still apply. This runs afoul of Memphis' own public housing policies that prohibit income-based discriminations.
Additionally, many housing providers located within Memphis city limits told testers they would not accept vouchers. One provider claimed it was because voucher recipients leave housing units trashed and in need of repair. This, the report noted, is an unfounded stigma. And, it opens those properties located within the city to a source of income discrimination claim.
Discriminatory housing practices in Memphis occurring among housing shortage
The demand for housing assistance far outweighs the supply. According to the final report, just 21% of an estimated 22 million American families designated as low-income received housing assistance.
As of 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 7,889 households, representing more than 21,9000 people in Memphis, received assistance through housings vouchers. Of those households, 90% were headed by a woman.
That gap is exacerbated by a shortage of apartments, and then furthered by the city's reputation as one of the top evictors in the U.S, as previous eviction also serve as a barrier to future housing. And, these are barriers faced by residents who made the cut-off for the housing choice voucher application list. The list itself has been closed to area residents since 2017, when some 15,000 residents signed up for voucher assistance.
Reporting from MLK50: Justice Through Journalism showed the region's supply of vacant rentals has dropped from 10% to 6%. This has enabled landlords to significantly inflate rents amid the increasing need for housing by as much as 30% according to a report from the Apartment List National Research Team.
All of this, the report said, points to a need for specific policy changes to the Fair Housing Act. Locally and an expansion of the voucher program. Locally, the report noted, "more work needs to be done to ensure that voucher recipients have access to safe and affordable housing. Any solutions to the crisis in housing must take into account both racial and economic considerations."
Micaela Watts is a reporter that covers issues tied to access and equity. She can be reached at micaela.watts@commercialappeal.com.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Audit of Memphis housing providers shows race income discrimination
