I am submitting these comments on behalf of Blue Ridge Legal Services, the legal aid society that serves the Shenandoah and Roanoke Valleys, and on behalf of the low-income population we serve. The proposed guidance on Housing Discrimination on the basis of Source of Funds correctly interprets and applies the new “source of funds” protection incorporated into the Virginia Fair Housing law July 1, 2020.

The guidance on how to compute whether a tenant meets an income threshold to qualify for housing is absolutely essential in guaranteeing tenants who benefit from the Housing Choice Voucher program the protection provided by the statutory source of funds amendment. As the guidance correctly points out, “[t]he landlord’s reasonable focus should be on whether the tenant can afford the tenant’s share of the rent.” To include the Housing Choice Voucher payment in this calculus would serve no purpose BUT to discriminate against those tenants on the basis of the source of funds.

It is important to note that other states with similar source-of-funds anti-discrimination statutes require the same approach set forth in the proposed guidance. See footnote 7 of the proposed guidance. Both Washington and California forbid the landlord from including the amount of rent voucher or subsidy in any calculations for assessing the tenant’s eligibility for rental of housing.

Accordingly, we strongly support the adoption of the proposed guidance as essential to protecting the rights of Virginia tenants to be free from discrimination based on source of funding.