According to CalMatters Housing, a Sacramento-based property management company is challenging California's ban on landlord discrimination against tenants with federal housing vouchers. The Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as Section 8, helps low-income renters afford a portion of their rent in the private market, though the program has never had enough funding to assist all eligible households.
California prohibited landlords from refusing voucher holders since 2020, and the state has since seen tenant rights groups filing civil rights lawsuits against landlords who violate the rule. Last month, a nonprofit group accused the nation's largest apartment landlord of systematically refusing voucher holders across multiple states including California. Fourteen other states plus Washington D.C. have similar bans on this type of discrimination.
Tower Bridge Property Management and its owner Tom Manning recently sued the state, arguing that California's requirements violate Fourth Amendment protections. Landlords who accept vouchers must allow housing inspections for health and safety violations and submit paperwork to local and federal authorities. The lawsuit contends these requirements constitute unreasonable searches that property owners shouldn't have to endure.
This legal challenge follows a similar case in New York, where a state appeals court recently struck down that state's anti-discrimination rule using comparable Fourth Amendment reasoning. The Pacific Legal Foundation, a libertarian organization that has previously challenged California housing policies like impact fees and zoning requirements, is representing Manning in this case.
What I am seeing locally in the Bay Area and throughout the East Bay is that these court battles over Section 8 acceptance could potentially impact housing availability for our most vulnerable renters if landlords succeed in their challenges. The voucher program is already stretched thin, and if more property managers feel emboldened to reject these tenants, it narrows an already limited pool of affordable housing options for low-income families in our region.
