Unlike Dallas and Austin, Fort Worth has not amended its Human Relations ordinance to prohibit housing discrimination based on lawful source of income. Landlords may legally refuse Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers in Fort Worth, with no Texas state protection either.
Texas does not include source of income as a protected class for housing discrimination, and the Texas Legislature has not enacted statewide voucher protection. Dallas amended its Anti-Discrimination Ordinance in 2020 to ban source-of-income discrimination, and Austin enacted similar protection earlier, but Fort Worth has not followed suit. The Fort Worth Human Relations ordinance covers federally protected classes such as race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, and familial status, but it does not list source of income or Section 8 vouchers. Federal HUD fair-housing rules likewise do not cover voucher status. Tarrant County also has no countywide protection. Landlords therefore may lawfully refuse to accept vouchers.
No Fort Worth penalty applies because there is no source-of-income protection. Landlords who refuse vouchers as pretext for race, national origin, or familial status discrimination remain liable under federal Fair Housing Act and the Human Relations ordinance.
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth has no comprehensive tenant anti-harassment ordinance. Tenants rely on Texas Property Code Section 92.331 retaliation rules and Section 92.0081 lo...
Fort Worth, TX
Fort Worth Housing Solutions (FWHS), the local public housing agency, administers the federal Housing Choice Voucher program. Voucher holders find private re...
See how Fort Worth's source-of-income discrimination rules stack up against other locations.
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