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I recently read a story about a
Texas HOA that passed declarations that would restrict any landlord from
renting to individuals who use section 8 vouchers to subsidize their rental
expenses. The rules also state that
landlords can only have one rent house.
What
are section 8 vouchers? In Texas it is
called The Housing Choice Section 8 Voucher Program. The program helps low income individuals and
families (including the elderly, persons with disabilities and homeless
veterans) find affordable housing that is safe and sanitary. To be eligible, the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs examines household income, size and composition
of the household, citizenship status, assets, medical expenses, and childcare
expenses. There are multiple public
housing authorities that work with the voucher program. Surprisingly, Section 8 vouchers are not
available in all areas of the state. The
voucher program was created by the Housing and Community Development Act of
1974. The money used to fund the program
comes from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. A community that wants to utilize the program
must go through the local governmental entity and there are state rules and
regulations to follow.
How does section 8 voucher
programs effect HOAs. Well, most likely
they don’t. The thought process may be
that section 8 voucher renters effect property values or that just having too
many renters effects property values or degrades the community “togetherness”
(I am pretty sure that is not a word).
There is no legal requirement for HOAs to accept section 8 voucher
recipients in the community and there is no requirement that HOAs inform other
residents that the community has section 8 voucher recipients.
I did see some articles that
indicated that banning section 8 voucher renters is a Fair Housing Act
violation. In fact, some Texas housing
advocates reported the HOA I referenced above to the US Department of Justice
to investigate. There are serious legal
implications with banning people from HOAs.
Just banning section 8 voucher recipients could be considered
discriminatory because most recipients are considered protected under the law. Deed restrictions that are discriminatory on
its face (meaning that it may seem neutral but discriminates in its
application) are void and prohibited in Texas.