San Diego Source of Income Discrimination Ordinance

As of August 1, 2019 it is illegal to reject potential clients based on the fact they are Section 8 recipients in the city of San Diego.

What does this mean for landlords? It means that if the court finds there was some sort of violation of this new ordinance, the court will award against the defendant the amount of up to three times the advertised monthly rent as damages. The court also has the option to impose attorney fees and additional punitive damages.

We strongly recommend at this point that you remove any ads or verbiage in your rental contracts containing Section 8 as criteria to eliminate potential tenants.

There have been cases since the start of this new ordinance of tenant’s rights attorneys filing dozens of lawsuits on behalf of voucher holders against owners and property management companies that have placed online ads that contain verbiage such as “No Section 8”. In many cases, industry attorneys have had no choice but to settle cases or face expensive trials that would have otherwise not likely won.

To read a complete and thorough breakdown of the new ordinance, you can visit the following link.