Michigan does not include source of income as a protected class in the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, but Detroit, Hamtramck, and Ann Arbor passed local ordinances banning landlord refusals to accept Section 8 vouchers and other lawful income sources.
The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act (MCL 37.2101 et seq.) covers race, religion, age, sex, marital status, and several other categories, but lawful source of income is not on the statewide list. Detroit's source-of-income ordinance, adopted in 2019 and updated since, prohibits landlords with five or more units from rejecting applicants solely because they pay with a Housing Choice Voucher. Hamtramck adopted similar protections, while many other Wayne County suburbs have not. Wayne County itself does not extend coverage to unincorporated areas, leaving voucher holders to navigate a patchwork that varies block by block.
Refusing to rent solely because an applicant uses a Section 8 voucher in covered Wayne County cities can trigger civil rights complaints, monetary penalties, and orders to lease the unit or pay damages.
See how Livonia's source-of-income discrimination rules stack up against other locations.
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