Bills

SB 1335: Discrimination: housing: credit history of persons receiving housing subsidies.

  • Session Year: 2021-2022
  • House: Senate
  • Latest Version Date: 2022-04-21
Version:

Existing law, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), prohibits various forms of housing discrimination, including prohibiting the owner of a housing accommodation from discriminating against or harassing a person because of specified characteristics, including source of income, as defined, and establishes the Department of Fair Employment and Housing to administer and enforce those provisions. Existing law prohibits, in instances where there is a government rent subsidy, the use of a financial or income standard in assessing eligibility for the rental of housing that is not based on the portion of the rent to be paid by the tenant.

This bill would recast those provisions to include a persons credit history as a prohibited basis for those forms of housing discrimination if the person receives federal, state, or local housing subsidies, as specified. The bill would prohibit the use of a persons credit history as part of the application process for a rental housing accommodation without offering the applicant the option of providing alternative evidence of financial responsibility and ability to pay as the applicant may choose to submit in instances where there is a government rent subsidy. The bill would require the housing provider to consider that alternative evidence in lieu of the persons credit history when determining whether to offer the rental accommodation to the applicant.

Authors shown for version:
Amended Senate (4/21/2022)