New York Human Rights Law and the Nassau County Human Rights Law forbid landlords from refusing rentals because of a tenant's lawful source of income, including Section 8 vouchers, SSI, SSDI, veterans benefits, or unemployment. Violations carry significant civil penalties.
NY Executive Law section 296(5), amended in 2019, made source-of-income a statewide protected class in housing alongside the Nassau County Human Rights Law. Landlords cannot refuse to consider housing-choice vouchers, advertise no programs, set higher income or credit thresholds for voucher holders, or refuse to participate in the Housing Authority inspection process for properties with at least four units. Nassau County CHRO and NY State Division of Human Rights both accept complaints. Testers from fair-housing groups including ERASE Racism and Long Island Housing Services regularly document violations.
Findings of source-of-income discrimination produce civil penalties up to $50,000 for first offenses and $100,000 for willful repeats, mandatory rental at the offered terms, and recovery of attorney fees and emotional-distress damages.
Nassau County, NY
Nassau County is not a formal sanctuary jurisdiction. It cooperates with federal immigration authorities to varying degrees, while New York State's Trust Act...
Nassau County, NY
Nassau workers are covered by New York's statewide Paid Family Leave program (NY WCL §200 et seq.), Earned Sick Leave law (NY Lab §196-b), and the HERO Act f...
Nassau County, NY
Nassau County may not set a local minimum wage above the state floor; New York preempts the field. The downstate minimum wage applicable in Nassau is $16.50 ...
Nassau County, NY
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Nassau County, NY
Nassau County does not impose its own hotel worker retention ordinance like New York City or Los Angeles. Hotel labor relations remain governed by federal NL...
Nassau County, NY
Nassau County imposes a hotel and motel occupancy tax of approximately five percent on top of New York State's four percent sales tax, producing a combined r...
See how Nassau County's source-of-income discrimination rules stack up against other locations.
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