On May 14, 2010, the Westchester County Legislature passed, by a vote of 10-4, legislation that would amend the County's Human Rights Law to proscribe discrimination on the basis of some lawful forms of income, including the receipt of Section 8. The legislation is temporary, with an automatic expiration after five years, and excludes coops and condos. A link to the full text can be found below.
Settlement Order ¶ 33(g) required the County, as part of its obligations to AFFH, to "promote, through the County Executive, legislation currently pending before the Board of Legislators to ban 'source-of-income' discrimination in housing." In violation of those obligations, the current County Executive refused to do so throughout the five months of his tenure. Craig Gurian, Anti-Discrimination Center's Executive Director, stated: "The County Executive's refusal to meet his obligations in respect to promotion of source-of-income legislation is consistent with the way that Westchester chose to make wildly non-compliant submissions instead of complying with the obligation to create a real implementation plan. We can expect continuing violations of the County's obligations -- for example, refusal to litigate as required against resistant municipalities -- unless and until the Monitor and HUD make it crystal clear to the County that violations will not be tolerated."
Here is a description from the Chair of the Committee on Legislation (Hon. John Nonna) about some of the features of the bill that were added to "address the concerns of the real estae community and landlords" (material in bold reflects antibiaslaw.com highlighting);
Level of income can be considered.
Cooperative apartments and condominiums are exempt from the law.
The definition of source of income has been limited to exclude alimony and court ordered payments because they can be changed. Inheritances and gifts as sources of income are not protected.
A landlord can exercise reasonable business judgment to reject a tenant who receives government assistance. For instance, a landlord is not forced to wait months for a Section 8 voucher holder to obtain an inspection of the apartment if there is a non-section 8 tenant ready to move in immediately. This will be the only source of income law in the country with a reasonable business judgment defense. None of the source of income laws in any jurisdiction contain this explicit defense. In addition, as the courts have made clear, landlords still have considerable discretion under the Section 8 program to choose responsible tenants. A tenant does not have a right to be rented an apartment just because they have a section 8 voucher. A landlord can consider credit history, criminal background and other relevant information.
The penalty provisions have been significantly reduced.
A sunset provision had been added. The law will expire in five years, unless it is re-enacted by the Board of Legislators. If the law is not working it will not be re-enacted. It will automatically expire.