Tucson Standard

The City of Tucson on Sept. 27 passed the Source of Income Ordinance, a new law which makes it unlawful for a landlord or property manager to deny a potential tenant's application on the basis of the applicant using section 8 housing voucher.

"A DOLLAR, IS A DOLLAR, IS A DOLLAR," Mayor Regina Romero said in a Twitter post. "Tonight, Mayor and Council voted unanimously to protect #Tucsonans from another form of housing discrimination."

According to a story by KGUN, the council unanimously passed the ordinance, a move that aims to help residents who have had difficulty finding housing where management accepts the section 8 voucher.

“It is impossible,” said Angel Murray, a local resident who applied for a section 8 voucher about seven years ago. “Most people I know had to go to Phoenix or Marana or, you know, a different place outside of Tucson in order to get housing. So I had to give mine up, because it was just too much.”

Eventually, Murray said, her voucher ran out about seven years ago, and she chose not to seek an extension, since it was too difficult to find anyone who would accept section 8 applicants.

“Even the landlords that I did talk to, they are no longer participating in the program, and don't know anybody that is," Murray said. "So, I did try to get, like, references."

Ernesto Portillo of the Tucson Department of Housing and Community Development said there were about 600 voucher holders in the city who have been unable to find housing.

“It just simply makes it unlawful to reject outright someone who has a housing choice voucher,” Portillo said of the ordinance.

“It's unfortunate that a lot of people fell through the cracks before this happened, because the people that want to do it now, they've got to now go back on the waiting list,” Murray added.