Louisiana law does not classify Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers as protected income under fair housing rules, and New Orleans has no source-of-income ordinance, so private landlords may legally refuse voucher holders citywide.
The Housing Authority of New Orleans (HANO) administers federal Housing Choice Vouchers, but neither Louisiana nor the City of New Orleans has enacted a source-of-income protected class. Landlords may post no-voucher policies and reject voucher applicants without breaching state or local fair housing law, provided the rejection does not pretextually mask race, disability, familial status, or other federally protected characteristics. The 2018 New Orleans Housing for All ordinance proposal failed at the City Council. Federal Fair Housing Act protections still cover protected-class discrimination unrelated to voucher status.
Pretextual voucher refusal that masks racial or disability discrimination violates the federal Fair Housing Act and exposes landlords to HUD complaints, civil penalties, and damages even though source-of-income itself is unprotected.
See how New Orleans's section 8 voucher acceptance rules stack up against other locations.
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