California SB 329 amended FEHA to prohibit Riverside County landlords from refusing to rent to applicants who use Section 8 housing choice vouchers or other government rental assistance. Source-of-income discrimination became unlawful statewide in January 2020.
Government Code section 12955 now treats verifiable rental assistance such as Section 8, VASH, and CalWORKs Homeless Assistance as protected income. A Riverside County landlord may not advertise no-Section-8, refuse applications based on voucher status, or charge higher security deposits to voucher holders. Landlords may still apply uniform credit-score, income-multiplier, and rental-history standards, but must count the tenant share rather than full rent when evaluating income ratios. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing investigates complaints, and tenants may also file private suits with statutory damages and attorney's fees.
Refusing voucher tenants violates FEHA and can result in damages, civil penalties up to 25,000 dollars, and injunctive relief from the CRD.
Riverside County, CA
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Riverside County, CA
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See how Riverside County's source-of-income discrimination rules stack up against other locations.
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