Section 8 and source of income protections

Source of income laws protect the rights of tenants to use lawful income from public assistance, including Section 8 housing vouchers, to pay rent.

Under California law, housing providers may not reject rental applicants because they would pay rent using public assistance, housing subsidies or other lawful, nontraditional sources of income.

Note: This page provides general information and is not legal advice. For help with a specific housing situation, contact the Housing Rights Center or a qualified legal services provider.

What housing providers can and cannot do

Property owners may screen applicants based on past conduct and ability to pay rent, as long as the screening standards are applied equally to all applicants.

If an applicant uses a government rent subsidy, such as Section 8, a landlord may not deny housing based on the applicant’s credit history without first offering the applicant the option to provide lawful, verifiable alternative documents showing their reasonable ability to pay their portion of the rent. Alternative documents may include government benefit payments, pay records and bank statements.

If a landlord uses an income standard, such as requiring income equal to two times the rent, the standard must be based only on the tenant’s portion of the rent.

Landlords may not charge higher rent to tenants because they receive public assistance or use a housing subsidy.

Examples of illegal discrimination

• A housing ad says “No Section 8.”
• A housing application says all tenants must have a full-time job and agree to a credit check.
• A landlord says you will have to move out once you enroll in a voucher program.
• You are charged a higher security deposit because part of your income comes from Social Security or other government benefits.

Examples of lawful income

• Section 8 and other housing subsidies
• Social Security
• Supplemental Security Income, also known as SSI
• Disability income, also known as SSDI
• CalWORKs
• Child or spousal support
• Unemployment benefits