ANNAPOLIS, Md. — A big fair housing ruling in Maryland.
The State Supreme Court on Monday ruled landlords cannot disqualify tenant applicants based solely on their source of income, specifically those with government funded housing vouchers.
In deciding the case of Katrina Hare v.s. David S. Brown Enterprises, the high court cited a 2020 state law called "The Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) Act."
Essentially the law prohibits property owners from considering someone's source of income when determining who they rent or sell a home to.
Its primary purpose was to prevent discrimination against residents receiving government vouchers that pay for a majority or all of their housing costs.
In this particular situation, Brown Enterprises had a longstanding policy requiring potential tenants to earn a minimum monthly income 2.5 times the cost of rent.
Hare applied to rent one of Brown's apartments at a monthly rate of $1,590.
Her housing voucher covered $1,464 of that amount, meaning she would only be responsible for paying $126 a month out-of-pocket.
Aside from the voucher, Hare made $841 per month byway of a government issued supplemental security income (SSI) check.
Brown Enterprises denied Hare's application because her voucher and SSI check combined failed to meet their required income threshold.
Hare sued arguing Brown should've instead considered the $126 monthly sum, since that's all she'd be obligated to pay, after applying the voucher.
The court ultimately sided with Hare's reasoning, ruling Brown wrongly weighed her actual income opposed to the monthly amount she'd owe in rent.
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Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown celebrated the ruling.
"The Supreme Court’s decision will open up housing opportunities for thousands of Maryland families, seniors, and people with disabilities. Landlords across the state have long used similar policies, creating unnecessary and illegal barriers that limit where voucher holders can live," Brown said in a statement.
According to Brown, more than 200,000 people in over 101,000 Maryland households rely on federally funded housing vouchers, with thousands more benefiting from the state.
