Banning housing voucher discrimination would ‘open’ Lexington market, stakeholders tell council

A Lexington council committee opted not to pass a ban that could keep landlords from discriminating against tenants who use other sources of income, including federal housing vouchers, to rent apartments.

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council’s Social Services and Public Safety committee will take up the issue again in November.

Councilman David Sevigny, one of the sponsors of the ordinance, said source of income can mean a lot of different things but most of the discussion has centered around vouchers. But this issue is more about choice and discrimination.

People who use vouchers “are being redlined into a very small section of the rental market,” Sevigny said. Redlining, the result of federal policies in the 1930s, kept many minorities from purchasing homes in certain areas.

So many people showed up Tuesday to watch council debate the source of income ban, additional seating had to be set up outside the council chamber.

Councilwoman Jennifer Reynolds, who chairs the Social Service and Public Safety Committee, said there will be a public hearing for landlords and tenants to weigh in at 6 p.m. Nov. 14 at city hall. No public comment was taken during Tuesday’s meeting.

Renting difficult for those with federal housing vouchers

Only 4% of 557 rental listings on Sept. 14 accepted Housing Choice vouchers, previously referred to as Section 8 vouchers, Housing Advocacy and Community Development Commissioner Charlie Lanter told the committee Tuesday.

Housing Choice vouchers pay for all or portions of people’s rents, depending on renter income.

Although Lexington Housing Authority data shows a 99% success rate across Lexington housing voucher use, the city’s most vulnerable populations often struggle to find landlords that accept not only housing vouchers but other federal funding — including rapid rehousing money, which helps those who are unhoused find rental units.

Between January and July 1, 215 new vouchers were issued but 18% were returned, Lanter said. It’s unclear how many of those returns were due to an inability to find housing.

“We’ve had people homeless for longer than 120 days with voucher in hand because no one will rent to them,” he said.

People who are experiencing homelessness are now waiting much, much longer to be housed, creating a backlog in the homeless system, Lanter said. The average time in the homeless system is now 100 days, according to city data. That also means more taxpayer dollars spent housing those people in emergency shelters and other city-supported homeless services.

“People live on the streets or in shelter with a housing voucher in their hand,” Lanter said.

Lanter said the vast majority of those who have vouchers aren’t white, he said.

“That does not mean that landlords are discriminating based on race,” Lanter said. That is likely unintentional bias due to those people having vouchers.

Dispelling myths about source of income bans

Landlords have pushed back against the effort, alleging rents will increase, among other arguments.

Landlords whose rents do not qualify for vouchers will not have to participate in the program. Moreover, there is a lot of misinformation about what a source of income ban will do, Lanter said.

“No one is forcing anyone to lower their rents,” Lanter said.

Those rents that are higher will not have to take housing vouchers, he said.

Several landlords previously told the Herald-Leader they had problems with the Lexington Housing Authority’s inspection process. That’s one of the reasons they opposed the source of income ban.

Lanter said landlords would have to participate in the inspection process for a federal housing voucher.

Landlords, however, would not be required to:

• Repair items that fail inspection if they wouldn’t have repaired them for another renter.

• Wait unreasonable amounts of time. Landlords can tell a prospective renter the program is taking too long but they must attempt.

A ban on source of income would also not:

• Prevent landlords from using credit, eviction or criminal history, or any other “commercially reasonable and nondiscriminatory” practice in making a rental decision

• Require landlords to make repairs or alterations to units if their unit does not pass inspection for acceptance into the Section 8 or any other assistance program

• Change or restrict any landlord rights to enforce compliance with a written lease agreement once executed.

Lanter said one study showed 21 states and 119 cities or counties, including Louisville and Cincinnati, have some form of law addressing source of income discrimination.

Studies in those areas have shown bans on source of income give tenants more options in more neighborhoods. Studies also show rents don’t dramatically increase after bans take effect, he said.

“It’s opening access to more units,” Lanter said.

“It also helps people get access to high-performing schools and more jobs,” he said.

Multiple landlords have said rents will rise if the city enacts a ban on source of income. To opt out of the program, landlords will raise rents above fair market value, making units ineligible for federal housing vouchers.

After Louisville’s ban took effect, he said, data showed rents there did not go up as dramatically as they did in Lexington.

“Rent is driven by the market,” Lanter said.

Lanter also showed council a map of rental units that take federal vouchers. All but one were one were north of Main Street, the map showed.

Council raises questions about rents, enforcement

Councilwoman Whitney Elliott Baxter said several landlords have contacted her to say a source of income ban will raise rents. Lanter said that’s not what data shows.

Baxter said landlords have also claimed staffing at the Lexington Housing Authority would have to increase if the ban would take effect, which would increase taxes. Lanter said the housing authority is not funded through property taxes. The majority of Lexington Housing Authority’s budget comes from the federal government.

“This would just prevent a landlord from refusing an application?” Baxter said.

Yes, Lanter said.

Another common complaint: federal vouchers don’t keep up with fair market rent, Baxter said. That’s determined by the federal government, housing authority officials said during Tuesday’s meeting.

There are approximately 700 landlords currently participating in the housing voucher program, housing officials said.

Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority Executive Director Austin Simms said he would like to work with landlords that want to work with the housing authority, he said. Simms said he would like to see additional money or incentives for landlords.

Simms said the housing authority has also cracked down on not using federal housing vouchers for substandard housing. That’s why inspections are so important, he said.

How the ordinance would work

Under the proposal, the city would add source of income to the city’s fairness ordinance, which bans discrimination based on age, sex, race and sexual orientation.

Lexington Human Rights Commission would be tasked with investigating complaints. Lanter said there would likely be a one year grace period. Louisville had a similar year-long grace period.

“The idea is to open the market up,” Lanter said.

Baxter said she still had concerns but understands the intent of the ban and the need for it.

Councilwoman Tayna Fogle said she doesn’t think landlord should be forced to take a voucher but, “I don’t expect them to be discriminatory because they have a voucher either.”

Fogle said she knows people who have turned in their housing vouchers because they are forced to live in high-crime areas. “They wanted better living for their children or grandchildren,” Fogle said.

Fogle said she hopes they can find a middle ground.

Councilwoman Shayla Lynch, one of the sponsors of the legislation, worked in fair housing for more than a decade. Lynch said she saw a woman who also depended on alimony and child support to pay rent. However, that woman struggled for months to find housing.

“She couch surfed for months,” Lynch said. The woman’s two children suffered while their mother tried to find housing, she said.