84th Recap: Tenant Source of Income

There were several bills filed and advanced that would prohibit cities from mandating that landlords cannot deny a tenant based on the tenant's source of income. More specifically, these bills were a reaction to some cities, like Austin, creating ordinances that landlords had to accept Section 8 vouchers. The bill was contentious with both consumer advocates and some cities from the start. It was also a major focus of the Texas Apartment Association who was simultaneously backing a lawsuit in the courts challenging Austin's ordinance.

Ultimately, one of the three bills filed made it to the governor's desk. SB 267 would prohibit local governments from prohibiting landlords from rejecting tenant applicants based on their source of income. There were some amendments to create certain carve outs for military veterans and would allow cities to create incentive programs to encourage landlords to accept Section 8 housing vouchers.

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