On March 12th, 2025, Neighbors Together, City Council members, and housing advocates gathered outside City Hall to demand stronger enforcement against Source of Income (SOI) discrimination. The rally, led by Neighbors Together members like Jasmine Smith, highlighted the challenges voucher holders face when trying to secure housing despite legal protections.
Smith, a CityFHEPS voucher holder and advocate, shared her experience of being denied housing due to her voucher status. “I was ghosted, degraded, and told my voucher wasn’t accepted, leaving me and my children in the shelter for 11 months before I was able to find an apartment,” she told the crowd.
The rally coincided with the introduction of a new legislative package aimed at strengthening penalties against landlords and brokers who discriminate against voucher holders. The proposed bills include increasing fines based on real estate portfolio size, banning credit history requirements for voucher holders, and publicly disclosing landlords guilty of SOI discrimination.
Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, a key sponsor of the legislation, emphasized the need for stronger enforcement: “Our civil rights laws are only as strong as their enforcement. If landlords continue to discriminate as a cost of doing business, they must be held accountable.”
Neighbors Together continues to push for policies that enforce anti-discrimination laws and expand access to permanent, affordable housing. With homelessness at record highs, ensuring CityFHEPS works as intended is more crucial than ever.
For more on this issue, read the full articles from City Limits here: “‘I Was Ghosted, Degraded’: Bills Seek to Combat Discrimination Against Rental Vouchers” and “Opinion: The Problem Isn’t CityFHEPS”.
