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Committee weighs adding citizenship and immigration status to public‑accommodations and housing protections
Summary
S.127 would add citizenship and immigration status to Vermont’s public‑accommodations and unfair‑housing statutes and require landlords conducting background or credit checks to accept one of three forms of identification. Counsel and committee members discussed risks, federal law interactions and carve‑outs for lenders and federal program rules.
The House Appropriations Committee reviewed language in S.127 that would add "citizenship and immigration status" as protected categories under Vermont’s public‑accommodations and unfair‑housing laws and would set minimum identification standards landlords must accept when conducting background or credit checks.
Cameron Wood, Office of Legislative Counsel, told the committee the bill would require landlords conducting a background or credit check to accept at least one of: an unexpired government‑issued identification, an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), or a Social Security number. "A residential rental application shall inform an applicant that the applicant may provide any of the above forms of identification," Wood said, describing changes the House…
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