N.J. will soon explicitly ban landlords from discriminating against people who use public assistance to pay for housing
The legislation is part of local and national anti-discrimination efforts to prevent people from being denied homes because they use public housing assistance to pay for it.
New Jersey lawmakers passed a bill to prohibit households from being denied housing because they use public assistance.
The legislation, which lawmakers passed on Dec. 18, makes explicit that the state’s anti-discrimination law includes protections for residents based on their source of income for housing payments, including government vouchers, child support payments, and assistance from nonprofits. And the bill affirms that protections apply both to people paying rent and those paying mortgages.
State Sen. Angela V. McKnight (D., Hudson County), one of the bill’s sponsors, said the legislation will protect the rights of homeowners and tenants.
“Access to stable housing should never hinge on the source of a person’s legal income, especially for vulnerable populations like single parents, veterans, or those living with disabilities who often rely on assistance to make ends meet,” she said in a statement.
The legislation, which would take effect immediately after Gov. Phil Murphy signs it, is part of local and national efforts to prevent people from being denied housing because they use public assistance to pay for it. More than 2.3 million families use federal Housing Choice Vouchers, formerly known as Section 8 vouchers.
In September, Democratic U.S. Sen. John Fetterman cosponsored a bill that would create federal protections for these tenants. The Fair Housing Improvement Act of 2025 would prohibit landlords from denying housing to tenants because they pay rent using Housing Choice Vouchers; Social Security benefits; payments from a trust; income from a court order, such as spousal or child support; or other legal sources of income.
It also would expand protections in the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to prohibit discrimination based on source of income or military or veteran status.
“It’s hard enough to find an affordable place to call home,” Fetterman said in a statement. “Every veteran and every family struggling to keep a roof over their head deserve dignity and our support, not discrimination based upon their service or if they use a voucher.”
Chantelle Wilkinson, vice president of strategic partnerships and campaigns at the National Low Income Housing Coalition, said source of income discrimination “is far too often a main barrier for households seeking stable housing.”
“When a landlord denies a voucher holder access to housing despite meeting all other qualifications, that ‘no’ is not just about a home: it’s denial of opportunity, equity, and stability,” she said in a statement.
In Philadelphia, the city’s Fair Practices Ordinance bans rental property owners from discriminating against potential tenants based on the source of the income they will use to pay their rent. That includes housing vouchers and other public assistance.
But housing denials based on voucher status still happen.
In June 2024, City Council passed a bill to expand protections under the Fair Practices Ordinance. The legislation explicitly stated that housing providers renting or selling a property cannot advertise or communicate that they do not accept housing vouchers. It also explicitly says that Housing Choice Vouchers are an example of a protected income source.
And it makes fighting this type of housing discrimination easier for renters.
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, the city’s official civil rights agency, began enforcing the protections last December.