Bronxites see it all the time: An ad for the perfect apartment which they can afford but then the line that sinks their hopes—”sorry, no Section 8 or programs.”
Many hard working Bronx residents working low wage jobs, qualify for such lifelines like rental assistance to get them by and even those who are unemployed for health reasons too.
But it is illegal, yes illegal, for a landlord to deny housing to someone based on their legal income which includes section 8 programs and the likes.
As the city presses landlords to take in homeless families, some have decided it’s okay to illegally refuse to rent to tenants who get government aid, the city controller has found.
A disturbing pattern has emerged on Craigslist of landlords openly warning off tenants who get city or federal housing assistance, Controller Scott Stringer said Tuesday.
On Craigslist this week, one ad for a two-bedroom in East Flatbush stated flatly “NO VOUCHERS.” A one-bedroom in Pelham Bay specified “Sorry NO Public Assistance.”
A Coney Island one-bedroom — described as “nice place, nice price” — spelled out “No Section 8 Pls,” referring to federal aid for poor families.
A 2008 city law bars landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their “lawful source of income,” and on Tuesday Stringer demanded that the city’s Commission on Human Rights go after landlords who openly ignore the law.
“These ads say ‘no voucher need apply,’ echoing generations of discrimination against low-income New Yorkers,” Stringer stated.
If you see an ad which is discriminatory in this or any other nature you should take the time to report them.
New Yorkers deserve decent living of they qualify based on their income and according to the law, public assistance programs are considered lawful income.
Have you ever been denied an apartment based on your programs?
