How you pay for your home shouldn’t prevent you from having a place to live, according to the Metropolitan King County Council. So its members have adopted legislation prohibiting landlords or homesellers from denying people housing based on how they would pay for the unit, including those who use money from Social Security benefits.
“For many in our communities, stable housing is a ticket out of generational poverty,” said Councilwoman Jeanne Kohl-Welles, the sponsor of the legislation that was approved in April on the 50th Anniversary of the Federal Fair Housing Act. “It’s important to recognize how far we have come but remember how much we still have left to do to ensure all people are treated fairly as they seek access to housing.”
Under the legislation that extends the protections that are already part of the Open Housing chapter of the county code, landlords and homesellers in unincorporated King County—where the county has land-use regulatory authority—will be prohibited from denying housing for potential tenants who have a verifiable alternative source of income, such as Social Security. The legislation also includes housing subsidies including Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers, state Housing and Essential Needs (HEN) funds, or rapid rehousing assistance.
King County joins the cities of Bellevue, Kent, Kirkland, Redmond and Seattle in adopting housing policies that prevent discrimination against people using these types of alternative income sources.
The County Code already prevents landlords and home sellers from denying housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, gender, marital status, parental status, participation in the Section 8 program, sexual orientation, disability, or use of a service or assistive animal by an individual with a disability.