House committee debates H.169 rules on Social Security numbers and immigration status for housing and lending

The Vermont House General and Finance Committee on April 15 took up H.169, a bill that would restrict when landlords and lenders may require Social Security numbers and would add citizenship and immigration status as protected classes for housing and public accommodations.

Representative Dodge, chair of the House General and Finance Committee, opened the committee discussion by saying he wanted to present concepts and options rather than legal text and to “start where this bill starts in its current form, which is what forms of identification are gonna be required.” He proposed three concepts: clarify the information landlords may collect to process rental applications (name, date of birth, prior rental history), require landlords to accept either a Social Security number or other government-issued identification, and require landlord application forms and communications to state that either option is adequate.

The committee’s discussion focused on enforcement and practical effects. Dodge read a draft concept saying, in part, that “a Social Security Number may not be…