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Anti-discrimination housing ordinances, Legacy Fitness, United Fire Group, Ivy Women
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Tuesday PM Daily | February 18, 2020
Lawmakers: Anti-discrimination housing ordinances threaten landlords’ rights
By Perry Beeman | Senior Reporter | Iowa Capital Dispatch

Iowa cities and counties would no longer be able to block discrimination against renters who are on public assistance under a bill advanced by a Senate subcommittee Monday.

Des Moines, Iowa City and Marion County have all passed ordinances that would be repealed under the legislation.

Senate Study Bill 3178 was backed by the Greater Iowa Apartment Association, representing landlords, and Eastlake Partnership of Iowa City. Lobbyists registered in opposition represented Iowa Housing Partnership, the cities of Des Moines and Iowa City, and the Metropolitan Coalition.

Subcommittee chairman Sen. Jeff Edler, R-State Center, said the bill would block city ordinances that may cause more problems than they fix by limiting the rights of property owners and landlords.

Representatives of Des Moines and Iowa City housing agencies said the local ordinances are there to prevent discrimination disguised as opposition to someone’s source of income.

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, who opposed the bill, agreed. Quirmbach said veterans and others need housing and rely on public programs in some cases.

"And to allow landlords to discriminate against these folks on the basis of their income source is taking us in the wrong direction," said Quirmbach, who noted he has financially supported some housing organizations.

Quirmbach said some landlords are using the income angle to discriminate because it is already against the law to turn away renters on the basis of race or other characteristics. Those other characteristics are often what the landlord is objecting to, really, Quirmbach said.

In an interview before the meeting, Des Moines City Councilman Josh Mandelbaum said it would take longer for low-income renters to find a place to live if the bill passes. A U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development study found that housing vouchers made it easier to find housing quickly. Still, more than a third, 36%, of the renters needed a month or two to find a suitable place to live.

Under a typical federal housing voucher program, tenants typically pay up to 30% of their income for rent and a government voucher covers the rest.

Des Moines changed its ordinance last June after decades of what appeared to be discrimination based on perceptions of families that have Section 8 certificates, a key federal aid program, Mandelbaum said.

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WATCH: The Business Record's Newsroom 515 in January addressed housing.
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