SEATTLE, Jan. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Zillow now
provides source of income and voucher discrimination protection
data on all rental listings, an expansion of its Local Legal
Protections tool. The new data-powered resource is designed to
inform renters about whether their state or local laws offer
protection from discrimination based on how they pay the rent,
whether they use wages from their job, a housing choice voucher
(commonly known as Section 8), or alternate forms of income, such
as alimony or disability.
Federal law does not prevent landlords from rejecting all
housing vouchers, however there are a number of state and municipal
laws that prohibit discrimination against renters with vouchers.
Currently 49.3%1 of rental listings in the U.S. are
located in areas that offer tenants protection against source of
income or voucher discrimination.
"Zillow is building an inclusive rental platform, developing
products that make rental listings accessible to all renters," said
Christopher Roberts, Senior Vice
President and General Manager of Zillow Rentals. "By expanding
Local Legal Protections, we are empowering renters and educating
property owners about local voucher discrimination protections --
and hopefully removing a barrier for people shopping for a new
place to call home."
Local Legal Protections is a resource first launched in 2018 to
help LGBT home searchers know whether their rights were protected
by local laws, since federal law does not provide protection
against housing discrimination based on LGBT status. The tool is
meant to inform renters of their rights as they search for a home,
and also help inform landlords of local laws in their area.
Finding a home is the final hurdle for many renters who use
rental assistance, because many assistance programs are struggling
to keep pace with the demand for vouchers. Housing Choice Vouchers
(HCV) are a crucial and underfunded form of assistance for
low-income renters. In 2019, there were nearly four times as many
severely cost-burdened renter households in the U.S. (spending
50% or more of their incomes on housing) than there were vouchers
available -- 9.7 million of these households and just 2.6 million
vouchers. The program has struggled to keep up with demand even
more in markets such as Orlando,
Austin, and Houston, where there are about 10 times as
many severely cost-burdened renter households as there are
vouchers.
In many areas, the value of vouchers has failed to keep up with
market-rate rents. Zillow research shows in places where
market-rate rents grew the fastest from 2015 to 2020 the gap
between market rate rents and voucher values widened the
most. Meaning the faster market rate rents grow, the less
likely that voucher values have kept pace. Of the 303 counties
Zillow analyzed in the largest 100 metropolitan areas with adequate
rental price data, almost half (44%) saw market-rate rents rise
more than voucher values from 2015 to 2020.
These same renter households have been particularly hard-hit by
the coronavirus pandemic. The likelihood of job loss, on top of
their existing higher housing cost burdens and lower incomes, means
that renter households have borne the brunt of the economic fallout
caused by COVID-19.
Zillow believes everyone deserves to find a place to call home,
regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial
status, disability, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Zillow
is actively investing in more resources and products to help
improve access and address existing inequalities in housing.
About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z) (NASDAQ: ZG), the largest
portfolio of real estate brands on mobile and the web, is building
a safe, on-demand real estate experience. Whether selling, buying,
renting or financing, customers can turn to Zillow's businesses to
find and get into their next home with speed, certainty and
ease.
In addition to Zillow's for-sale and rental listings, Zillow
Offers buys and sells homes directly in dozens of markets across
the country, allowing sellers control over their timeline. Zillow
Closing Services offers customers title and escrow services to
support a more seamless transaction experience. Zillow Home Loans,
our affiliate lender, provides our customers with an easy option to
get pre-approved and secure financing for their next home
purchase.
Millions of people visit Zillow Group sites every month to start
their home search, and now they can rely on Zillow to help them
finish it — with the same confidence, ease and empowerment they've
come to expect from real estate's most trusted brand.
Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender; NMLS 10287,
www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org.
1As of 12/20/20, 49.3% of rental listings are located
in areas with laws prohibiting discrimination against renters with
vouchers. That figure is consistent with the Poverty & Race
Research Action Council's estimate. Geographies based on the Urban
Institute's 2020 State and Local Voucher Protection Laws dataset,
accessible from:
https://datacatalog.urban.org/dataset/state-and-local-voucher-protection
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SOURCE Zillow