House committee reviews H.169; debates immigration-status limits for lenders and landlords

Members of the House General and Housing committee on April 24 reviewed a redraft of H.169, a bill that would add citizenship and immigration status to Vermonts prohibitions on discrimination in housing. Legislative counsel presented new language intended to preserve federal exceptions for lenders and for federally required verification of immigration status while requiring landlords to accept alternatives to Social Security numbers on rental applications.

The revised draft was introduced by Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Council, who told the committee it "shall not constitute unlawful discrimination for a creditor to consider a credit applicant's immigration status to the extent such status has bearing on the creditor's rights and remedies regarding loan repayment," language prepared with colleague Maria Ryle of Legislative Council. Ryle said the provision is intended to mirror how federal law and federal agencies treat immigration status in credit decisions and to reduce the risk that state law would expose lenders to suits or interfere with secondary-market practices.

The bill as revised would: require residential rental applications to inform applicants they may provide a Social Security number, an individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN), or an original or copy of a government-issued identification to allow a landlord to conduct a background or credit…