Source of Income Discrimination

Fair Housing

PRRAC’s fair housing work encompasses implementation of the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing mandate, as well as research and advocacy to expand opportunity in federal housing programs at HUD, the Treasury Department, and state housing finance agencies. We also provide technical assistance to local housing agencies and advocates on AFFH, housing mobility, and local reform of the Housing Choice Voucher program.

State and local “source of income discrimination laws” have become increasingly popular as our country faces a growing housing affordability crisis. These laws are primarily designed to protect families with Housing Choice Vouchers and other forms of housing subsidy, but they also cover families with other types of non-traditional income, such as alimony and child support.

Included on this page are our policy briefs, advocacy guides, research publications, and other related materials regarding source of income discrimination.

Appendix B: State and Local Source-of-Income Nondiscrimination Laws: Protections that Expand Housing Choice and Access (2025)

• Guidance on Application of the Fair Housing Act to the Screening of Applicants for Rental Housing (HUD, 2024)
• Survey of source of income caselaw involving insurance discrimination under the Fair Housing Act and state SOI laws (October 2023)
• Letter re HUD guidance on SOID (October 2023)
• Final report and recommendations from the 2023 source of income discrimination research convening” (July 2023)
• February 2023 research presentations from the Urban Institute and the NYU Furman Center
• Expanded protections for families with Housing Choice Vouchers (September 2022)
• State and Local Laws Prohibiting Source of Income Discrimination (UPDATED: July 2023)
• Crafting a Strong and Effective Source of Income Discrimination Law (PRRAC, March 2020)
• Advocacy Tips for Using Source of Income Laws to Prevent Evictions and Increase Emergency Rental Assistance Utilization (NHLP, PRRAC, & NHLC, October 2021)
• Urban Institute Voucher Protections Dataset (August 2021):
  • This dataset includes 16 state laws and 100 city and county laws that prevent landlords from discriminating against voucher holders and were passed between 1971 and April 2021. The dataset includes details on these laws, including the year of adoption, repeals or substantive amendments, and key features of laws that may influence their effectiveness. The dataset also provides scores that estimate the relative strength and weaknesses of the laws based on these features.  The dataset is based on PRRAC’s compilation of state and local laws that bar source-of-income discrimination (“Appendix B”).
• Combatting Source of Income Discrimination in Housing (Antonia K. Fasanelli & Philip Tegeler, Published in ABA May/June 2021)
• Successful 2020 Colorado State SOI Campaign (2020)
• American Bar Association Webinar on Source of Income Discrimination Laws (December 2018)
• American Bar Association Resolution Urging Adoption of Source of Income Discrimination Protections (August 2017)