Section 8 and Source-of-Income Protection

California expanded the definition of "source of income" to include federal, state, and local housing subsidies paid directly to a landlord, including Housing Choice Vouchers. Because source of income is a FEHA-protected characteristic, refusing to rent to a voucher holder because of the voucher is housing discrimination.

That reaches beyond the final decision. Advertising "no Section 8," telling a caller the owner does not participate, or quietly declining to return voucher-holders' calls are all actionable — and are the most commonly documented violations, because they are easy for testers to capture.

A landlord may still apply a minimum income standard. But for a voucher holder, the standard applies only to the portion of rent the tenant will actually pay.

• Apply the same credit, rental history, and screening criteria used for every other applicant.
• Decline an applicant for a legitimate, consistently applied, documented reason unrelated to the voucher.
• Negotiate rent within the housing authority's reasonableness determination.
• Require the unit to pass the housing authority's inspection before the tenancy begins.

A landlord may not, however, treat the administrative steps of the voucher program — the inspection, the HAP contract, the payment timing — as a reason to prefer an unassisted applicant. That preference is the discrimination.