Oregon anti-discrimination law means landlords can no longer advertise 'No Section 8'

[alp227]

Source: The Oregonian

Beginning today, Oregon landlords are no longer allowed to turn down prospective renters simply because they receive rent subsidies from the federal Section 8 program.

Judging from the rental advertisements on Craigslist, however, not everyone has gotten the message.

There's the large 1 bedroom unit in North Portland, the classic one-bedroom apartment in the Lloyd District, the three-bedroom ranch home in east Portland, the historic old-world Portland home in inner Southeast.

Each advertisement from June is still listed online as available for rent – with the caveat, "No Section 8."

Read more: http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2014/07/oregon_anti-discrimination_law.html

[Cha]

1. Wow! 'Cause they do that in Hawai'i... it's been a bummer in the

past.. but thankfully I found a place that didn't discriminate and are as happy with me as I am with them. my place.

Good ol Oregon..so happy for the people there who will be able to find a place to rent without being told "No HUD". I found some landlords don't want HUD because they don't want to get their rentals up to HUD standards.

From your link, alp.. mahalo!

"Anti-discrimination protections already prohibit landlords from rejecting applicants because or race, color, national origin, familial status, marital status, sex, sexual orientation or religion.

Kotek's law expanded the protections to include source of income, specifically the Section 8 program, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher program. Even with the change, landlords can still reject a Section 8 application for other reasons, such as past conduct.

The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries will investigate complaints filed by people who believe they've faced unlawful discrimination. Landlords found in violation are subject to a fine of up to $11,000."

[kylie5432]

2. Some units don't meet Section 8 requirements

Some may say No Section 8 because they have to meet certain types of requirements and codes. And to be honest, Section 8 brought nothing but crime and gang problems to Palmdale and Lancaster.

One of my students works as a clerk in Los Angeles and she says often decisions about who gets Section 8 and who gets cut off are not fairly made. She provided some really sad examples and one was of an elderly woman who didn't renew some paperwork in time because she had a hard time reading it - she went to the Section 8 office within the alloted time but they still refused to continue her housing subsidy. She left crying not knowing how she would pay her rent. Her son has been into the office several times to try to help to no avail.

Who gets Section 8 is the real elephant in the room.

[LeftyMom]

3. You misspelled "meth". Meth brought nothing but crime and gang problems to Palmdale and Lancaster.

[dem in texas]

4. The rental unit must be approved by the section 8 people

If the apartment is not approved, they can't offer it as section 8. I have a disabled nephew and his name was drawn (he was one of 5000 out of 25000 applicants) to receive a section 8 rental voucher. Where my nephew lived there were not many section 8 apartments. The reason give to us is that many didn't want to go through the inspection process and all the paperwork involved. The unit must be inspected once a year.

We were lucky and finally able to find him an apartment that accepted the rental voucher and it where he wanted to live, close to his church and his doctors and he has lived there for 2 years now.

[Skittles]

5. I am a long time apartment dweller

I would not mind Section 8 neighbors - I'm unsure what the beef is from landlords - seems to me all they care about is that they get their money on time

[JoeyT]

7. The only one I've ever known of that

refused Section 8 was pretty much a slumlord that didn't want to do the stuff Section 8 would've made him do.

http://www.gosection8.com/LL/landlord_guide.aspx

Who can really blame them, when Section 8 requires them to provide tenants with such luxuries as a flushing toilet and not having a poisonous atmosphere.

[davidpdx]

6. Craigslist is hard to enforce anything because it is anonymous

They have gotten better about somethings over the years, but the way it is set up there is no definitive way to stop every single ad from posting something that may violate the law.