Passed by the Senate during National Fair Housing Month, Senate Bill 90 sought to expand rental housing options for some of Delaware’s lowest wage earners, vulnerable seniors and people with disabilities.
The legislation proposed eliminating a legal exemption that allows landlords to refuse to rent properties to the roughly 6,500 people who receive federal or state housing assistance. Although all federal and state housing subsidy programs guarantee monthly payments directly to landlords, many reject tenants who participate in those programs or only offer them apartments in specific buildings, a form of discrimination legally permissible under current state law.
As a result of those laws, families who hold vouchers often struggle to find housing in Delaware, which only has an estimated 36 available units for every 100 low-income renters, a significant contributor to the average 31 month waiting list for a voucher.
Separate legislation sought to allow landlords to file reimbursement claims for eligible expenses to a Landlord Mitigation Fund, a program administered by the Delaware State Housing Authority and financed through a combination of available state funds, federal money and other sources.
Although the Senate passed both bills, neither were taken up for consideration by the Delaware House of Representatives.