Housing voucher recipients can face a difficult path to safe and decent housing in the state of Texas. These households work incredibly hard just to secure a voucher; only 1 in 4 homes that apply actually procure them, and those who do can wait years to finally receive the voucher. This long road to housing security, however, is not always concluded with open arms. In Texas, source of income is not a protected class under fair housing laws. Therefore, landlords and property managers are allowed to discriminate against households who use vouchers as payment and refuse to rent to them on this basis.
HB 411, a bill in the Texas House of Representatives authored by Rep. Jon Rosenthal, seeks to fix this major barrier for these families. The legislation proposes the “repeal of the prohibition against certain municipal or county regulation of the rental or leasing of housing accommodations.” In plain terms, the bill allows for cities and counties to install protections against source of income discrimination as they wish. The state currently prohibits such localities from making these laws.
On April 22, HB 411 had a committee hearing in the Intergovernmental Affairs committee and advocates and community alike showed up in support of this proposed legislation. In addition to Texas Housers delivering testimony at the Capitol, we were joined by members from Inclusive Communities Project, Texas Appleseed, Disability Rights Texas, and most importantly, community members who spoke directly to what using a voucher is currently like and how they would benefit from a law such as this being passed.
Tenants Natisha Miles, Henry Kearney, Nola Breaux, and Pete Bernal representing GI Forum of Bexar County each spoke to how the voucher program is currently limiting their access to safe, stable, and decent housing, and what HB 411 could do to improve the program overall.
Texas Housers’ research director Ben Martin also testified to what a common experience is for many voucher holders, ending up in dangerous housing due to voucher discrimination from landlords in safer neighborhoods. He also was able to provide a quick lesson on the model tenants that voucher holders typically tend to be and the value and volume of vouchers as determined by Fair Market Rent.
Households that secure a voucher do so through arduous work, long wait times, and demonstrating they are qualified as tenants. Given that they go through so much to obtain a voucher, we should ensure that it is not legally held against them to utilize vouchers as payment as they attempt to use them in safe, high opportunity neighborhoods.
If you’d like to learn more about the 2025 Texas Legislative session, including how to get involved yourself, you can visit our special page on #Lege25.
