The Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority administers Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8) for income-eligible renters. Source-of-income discrimination is not banned by Charleston or WV, so landlord participation in the voucher program is voluntary.
Section 8 is a federal program funded by HUD and administered locally by the Charleston-Kanawha Housing Authority (CKHA). Vouchers pay the difference between 30 percent of tenant income and the contract rent up to a payment standard. CKHA inspects units for Housing Quality Standards before approving a tenancy, and landlords sign a HAP contract with the authority. Charleston has not adopted a source-of-income protection ordinance, and West Virginia does not require landlords to accept vouchers. Tenants can be turned away simply for using a voucher, although landlords cannot discriminate on protected-class grounds otherwise.
Refusing a voucher alone is not unlawful in Charleston, but using voucher status as pretext to discriminate based on race, family status, or disability violates federal and WV fair housing law.
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See how Charleston's section 8 voucher acceptance rules stack up against other locations.
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