Christa Walikonis, a TCDD Policy Fellow with Disability Rights Texas, shared insights from her research into the experiences of people with DD who apply for Section 8 housing vouchers. Walikonis noted some of the barriers faced by people with DD when trying to secure housing in Austin using Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers. Some of the barriers included high rental rates, few landlords accepting Section 8 tenants, and the lack of units that are affordable and accessible to voucher holders.

1. SOURCE OF INCOME
DISCRIMINATION IN
HOUSING
ChristaWalikonis,TCDD Policy Fellow

2. Housing Goals
• Affordable
• Accessible
• Integrated
2

3. Sources of Housing Assistance
■ Section 8 Housing ChoiceVouchers (est. 1974)
■ Low-Income HousingTax Credits (est. 1986)
3

4. ■ Federal Program
■ Locally Administered
■ Periodically open waitlist and select
a number of applications on a lottery
system.
■ Income cannot exceed 50% of MFI
■ A family pays between 30 – 40% of
their monthly income toward rent,
and the housing authority covers the
rest.
■ Once approved, they have 120 days
(4 months) to find a suitable unit.
Assists low-income families,
the elderly, and the disabled to
afford decent, safe, and
sanitary housing in the private
market.
4

5. 5,270
HCV Holders
in Austin
62%
have a disability
5

6. Classes Protected by the Fair Housing Act
■ race
■ color
■ religion
■ national origin
■ sex
■ disability
■ familial status
■ source of income
6

7. Relationship between SOI and protected classes
■ The FHA prohibits discrimination that is intentional and/or that has a
disproportionately negative effect on a protected class.
– However, a refusal to rent to a voucher holder may be a pretext for
discrimination based on a protected class,
– Or, because protected classes disproportionately represented
among HCVP participants, the refusal to accept a voucher may have
a disparate impact on them.
7

8. Where Are Section 8 HousingVoucher Holders Protected by SOI Anti-Discrimination
Laws?
*Texas is the only jurisdiction to pass a law that protects a landlord’s right to discriminate
Source: Affordable Housing Online
8

9. ■ 91% of landlords in Austin
refused to accept Section
8 tenants
■ 94% of units in the right
rent range were not
accessible to voucher
holders
9

10. SOI LAWS inTEXAS
2014
• Dallas & Austin pass Source-
Of-Income ordinances
2015
•Legislature negates
ordinances, passing SB 267
2017
• Fair housing advocates sued
Texas, case pending.
10

11. 11

12. Reasons Landlords Don’t Accept HCV
■ Administrative burdens
■ Aversion to contracting with a federal program
■ Having to track down late payments from local housing authorities
■ Unnecessary standards for units
■ If a unit fails its inspection, it can take weeks to reschedule — costing them money
12

13. Research Questions
For the Austin vouchers issued in 2018:
■ How many people weren’t able to find housing before their voucher
expired?
■ For those who found housing, how long did it take them?
■ In what neighborhoods were people finding housing?
13

14. The average
rent in Austin is $1,369
14

15. 2018Voucher Issuance: 437
362
10 1
65
Leased Up Ported Out Searching Expired
83%
15

16. Average Lease-UpTime
74 days
or
2.4 months
16

17. 17

18. 18

19. Benefits of Mixed-Income Neighborhoods
■ Poverty alleviation
■ Improved mental health
■ Increased tolerance for diversity
■ Improved housing quality
■ Increased accessible services
■ Improved neighborhood conditions
19

20. ■ An federal subsidy used to finance the
construction and rehabilitation of affordable
rental housing.
■ Developers compete every year for this tax
credit based on a point system.
■ Owners must keep units rent restricted and
available to low-income tenants.
■ Required to accept housing vouchers
20

21. 164 LIHTC Properties within Austin City Limits
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7
Distribution of LIHTC Properties by % in Poverty
21
Percent in Poverty Percent of LIHTC Properties
10% 17%
20% 24%
30% 25%
40% 21%
50% 10%
60% 3%

22. Barriers to
Affordable
Housing
Development
22

23. QUESTIONS?
23