In New York, it’s illegal to discriminate against renters or apartment-seekers who pay rent with public assistance. That applies to lots of kinds of vouchers and subsidies, including CityFHEPS, Section 8, Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and more.
The law that protects renters applies not just to landlords and property owners, but to real estate brokers and agents, too. And it applies to the vast majority of rental properties in New York City — with two notable exceptions for some unlisted units and buildings where the owner’s family lives.
Despite the wide sweep of the law, discrimination against renters who use public assistance is rampant and consequences are rare, experts told THE CITY. Gathering proof of it is tough, and sticking up for your rights requires major patience and fortitude. But it’s not impossible, and tenants are becoming more aware of their rights, said Elizabeth Grossman, executive director and general counsel at the Fair Housing Justice Center.
“People are seeking justice,” she said. “There’s a lot of attention being paid to try to redress this egregious pattern of very widespread discrimination. I think it’s going to catch up to landlords and brokers and realtors who discriminate based on source of income.”
Here’s what to do if you’re facing anti-voucher prejudice as you apartment hunt:
Is it illegal? Red flags for renters
So-called “source of income discrimination,” which includes all types of voucher and assistance bias, can be tricky to spot. Since the law banning the practice went into effect in the city in 2008, landlords and owners have gotten savvy about hiding it.
“It’s become much more subtle,” said Grossman of FHJC. “Ten years ago, you could look at Craigslist and find an ad anytime you looked that said ‘No vouchers, no programs.’ It’s not like that anymore. Our complainants are constantly told, ‘Oh, we’ll get back to you.’ ‘Everything’s great, we’ll get back to you.’ And then they’re just ghosted.”
The City Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the agency that oversees source of income complaints and investigations, outlines examples of possible discrimination on its fact sheet (available in 11 languages), including:
- “Your Section 8 voucher doesn’t count as income.”
- “That landlord doesn’t accept HASA” (the HIV/AIDS Service Administration).
- “We accept everything except CityFHEPS.”
Nailah Abdul-Mubdi, a former voucher-holder who helped build tools for the anti-discrimination group Unlock NYC, said she’s seen landlords say “there’s a separate waitlist for people who have vouchers,” or “I don’t think the apartment’s going to pass inspection,” referring to basic physical inspections done before certain subsidy-holders can move into a place.
Document everything
If you want to prove discrimination, experts say you’ll need receipts.
That means recording phone calls or in-person conversations and taking screenshots of digital communication like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger chats, texts and emails where a broker or landlord may be “more free” and candid, said Grossman. (Here’s THE CITY’s guide on how to record a conversation in New York.)
That includes times, dates, names and copies of apartment advertisements. To help tenants, the Fair Housing Justice Center has a tip sheet for documentation as well as a rental search log in English and Spanish.
“We advise people to carefully document all interactions,” Grossman said.
That’s what Abdul-Mubdi did when faced with a landlord who was refusing to rent to her in 2018. With her records, she filed a complaint against the owner and over the course of months successfully forced them to allow her to rent her current apartment in Midwood, Brooklyn, where she now lives with her two children.
“I felt like everything that I went through, it paid off — although it was frustrating. There was times that I wanted to give up,” she said.
She now works as a community organizer with Neighbors Together, a tenants’ rights group who helped link her with Unlock NYC years ago.
“I tell people, just be diligent and report, gather your evidence and don’t feel like what you’re doing is just a waste of time. It’s not a waste of time.”
If and when you’re ready to file a complaint against a broker, agent, owner or landlord, you have a few options:
Report it
- File a report directly with the city’s Commission on Human rights (CHR) here or by calling (212) 416-0197.
- Document and report through Unlock NYC, which will help you gather evidence and report your complaint to the CHR.
- Call the Fair Housing Justice Center to get advice on how to proceed with your case at (212) 400-8201 or fill out a complaint form with the group here. The group can tell you where best to file a complaint, how to connect with an attorney if you need one or whether your case may tie in to one of their ongoing investigations.
Keep in mind that the complaint process will take some time, experts say. The Commission on Human Rights has had serious staffing shortages in recent years. And the results of a complaint can vary widely. Some could be resolved after CHR warns a landlord of the law. Some could lead to further investigations, or lawsuits. But in Grossman’s experience, most people who call her organization aren’t looking to go to court.
“The majority of people want to get into housing as soon as possible,” she said.
