Washington State Has One Month Left to Stop Landlords from Refusing Section 8 Tenants

[TexasTowelie]

The Washington State House and Senate each passed bills Friday to bar landlords from discriminating against tenants who pay their rent with Section 8 vouchers or other assistance. The move is welcome news for housing advocates, who have for years pushed for the policy known as "source of income discrimination protection."

"It was historic that it got bipartisan support in both the House and Senate," says Michele Thomas, a lobbyist for the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance. "It was an extraordinary feeling to watch it be voted on with the support of moderates as well as progressives who've always seen this as good policy."

The bad news for supporters of the policy is the recent House and Senate votes aren't enough to send the bill to the governor's desk and into law. The House and Senate each considered their own versions of the same bill, rather than "companion" bills. That means one chamber needs to approve the other's bill to send it to the governor. That leaves advocates racing against the clock to make sure lawmakers in either the House or the Senate schedule the necessary hearings and votes to pass the bill by March 8, when the session ends.

If passed, the bill would prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to prospective tenants based on how they get their income, including their use of public assistance, housing vouchers like Section 8, social security, or other legal means. It would also create a mitigation fund to reimburse landlords whose rental units are damaged by tenants using housing vouchers or other assistance programs. Because low-income people may be less able to pay high security deposits, the mitigation fund "helps provide security for landlords," Thomas says. The mitigation program would be funded by an increase to a fee charged on documents recorded by county auditors. That fee, which funds housing and shelter programs, would increase from $10 to $13 to fund the new program.

Read more: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/02/12/25804225/washington-state-has-one-month-left-to-stop-landlords-from-refusing-section-8-tenants

[MFM008]

1. I was thrown out

Of my apartment of 24 years when they decided to upscale like adding small washers and dryers... raise the rent and throw out all section 8 renters no matter how good their record.
They need to be forcibly stopped.