Abstract
This Article aims to provide courts and practitioners with the tools they need to address second-generation SOI discrimination, examining the most prevalent tactics and marshalling the relevant materials in one place. Part I of this Article provides a brief overview of SOI discrimination, demonstrating that such discrimination is rampant throughout the country, even in states and municipalities with SOI protections. Part II examines the statutes and authorities relating to the most common manifestations of second-generation SOI discrimination, namely minimum-income and minimum-credit requirements. Part III applies those authorities to voucher holders with both full and partial vouchers, demonstrating that these requirements are illogical and discriminatory when applied to voucher holders with no rental obligation, i.e., those with 100% of the rent paid by the voucher; that income requirements not based upon the voucher holder’s share of the rent are similarly discriminatory, and where voucher programs already calculate voucher holders’ rent share based upon their income, there is no justification for imposing additional income requirements; and that credit requirements for those with a rent share must at the very least be applied in a fair and reasonable manner so as not to frustrate the purpose of the SOI laws.
Recommended Citation
Armen H. Merjian, Second-Generation Source of Income Housing Discrimination, 2023 ULR 963 (2023)