Fort Worth, TX Rental Property Rules: Source-of-Income Discrimination (2026)
Key Facts
- Fort Worth ordinance
- No SOI protection
- Texas state law
- No SOI protection
- Federal Fair Housing Act
- Excludes source of income
- Voucher refusal legality
- Permitted in Fort Worth
- Pretext discrimination
- Still illegal
Summary
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.
Sec. 250.007. REGULATION OF RENTAL OR LEASING OF HOUSING ACCOMMODATIONS. (a) Except as provided by this section, a municipality or county may not adopt or enforce an ordinance or regulation that prohibits an owner, lessee, sublessee, assignee, managing agent, or other person having the right to lease, sublease, or rent a housing accommodation from refusing to lease or rent the housing accommodation to a person because the person's lawful source of income to pay rent includes funding from a federal housing assistance program.(b) This section does not affect an ordinance or regulation that prohibits the refusal to lease or rent a housing accommodation to a military veteran because of the veteran's lawful source of income to pay rent.
Full Breakdown
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.
Violations & Fines
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Fort Worth landlord refuse a Section 8 voucher?
Why does Dallas protect vouchers but Fort Worth does not?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Fort Worth
Texas rules heatmap·Compare Fort Worth to another location·View the Texas rental property rules overview
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Source-of-Income Discrimination in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Tarrant County handle source-of-income discrimination.