HUD has released recordings of an Office of Policy Development and Research (PD&R) Quarterly Update on source-of-income discrimination (SOI) hosted on July 25. The event brought together researchers, municipal and state government officials, and fair housing practitioners to share insights about the recent passage of local anti-discrimination ordinances, evaluate research concerning the impacts of these anti-discrimination laws, and discuss challenges to the enforcement of the ordinances. The hybrid event, which featured NLIHC research, included two panels: “Overview of Source of Income Protections and What the Research Tells Us About Their Effectiveness” and “Lessons from State and Local Implementation.”
Todd Richardson, general deputy assistant secretary for policy development and research, defined source-of-income discrimination as the refusal by landlords or property owners to rent properties to housing applicants for reasons related to their income, which can often include Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV) as well as other income types, such as Social Security Income. Veronica Helms Garrison, an analyst with PD&R, highlighted data about SOI discrimination and noted the growing number of SOI protections in the U.S., where significant actions to protect tenants have been undertaken in California, Colorado, Illinois, Rhode Island, New York, and Virginia.
The first panel included Martha Galvez, executive director of Housing Solutions Lab at the Furman Center at New York University; Philip Tegeler, executive director of Poverty & Race Research Action Council (PRRAC); and Dan Teles, principal research associate at the Urban Institute. The panel was moderated by Dr. Calvin Johnson, deputy assistant secretary for research, evaluation, and monitoring with PD&R. The second panel included Adria Crutchfield, executive director of the Baltimore Regional Housing Partnership; Sandra Park, chief of the Civil Rights Bureau of the New York State Office of the Attorney General; and Manon Vergerio, co-founder and head of data and advocacy at Unlock NYC. The panel was moderated by Chang Chiu, chief of staff for the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at HUD.
Learn more about the event here.
Watch recordings of the event in English here and in Spanish here.