Delaware General Assembly

Lieu/Substituted 5/23/24

Adopted in Lieu of original; takes status of original

SS 1 for SB 293

5/8/24

Lockman

Reps. S. Moore, Dorsey Walker, Wilson-Anton

Sen. Pinkney, Townsend
Reps. Lambert, Morrison, Phillips

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 6 AND TITLE 25 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO FAIR HOUSING.

The Delaware Fair Housing Act, Chapter 46 of Title 6, and Residential Landlord-Tenant Code, Chapter 51 of Title 25, both prohibit discrimination based on source of income, which is defined as including rental payments from any government program. However, both laws also provide that a landlord's nonparticipation in a government-sponsored rental assistance, voucher, or certificate system cannot be the basis for an administrative or judicial proceeding. This Act revises both the Delaware Fair Housing Act and Residential Landlord-Tenant Code to repeal the exemption to discrimination based on source of income that allows a landlord to discriminate against tenants who participate in government-sponsored rental assistance programs because this exemption contributes to a lack of affordable housing in this State. There is currently a severe shortage of affordable housing for extremely low-income households in Delaware, with only 38 affordable rental units available for every 100 extremely low-income households. In addition, studies have shown that people who use government subsidies to move from high-poverty neighborhoods to communities with more opportunity have measurable health improvements and the children in these families earn more in adulthood than children who remain in high-poverty neighborhoods. This Act delays the effective date of this Act to allow the opportunity for all of the following to occur: 1. Conduct outreach and education to landlords about how this Act changes the law. This outreach will include information explaining that while the law prohibits a landlord from having a blanket policy of not accepting government assistance to pay rent, it does not require a landlord to accept all applicants who receive rental assistance, such as applicants who have a history of evictions or not paying utility bills. 2. Explore opportunities to streamline and standardize the processes used by government assistance.

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Takes effect upon being signed into law

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