This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and 开云体育.
When Jose Ignacio decided to leave his job on a Vermont dairy farm, it took him nearly two years to secure a stable apartment. Housing had been provided on the farm, but when he made the choice to leave 鈥� to begin a job in construction, building homes 鈥� his family sent in rental application after rental application, but seldom heard back. When they did, landlords pressed for his identification, he said.
鈥淓verywhere we went, they just asked for our Social Security number,鈥� Jose Ignacio told the House General and Housing Committee last week, providing only his first name. He lacked the government identifier. 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 matter if we could demonstrate that we had the ability to pay,鈥� he said.
As landlords rebuffed them, Jose Ignacio and his family spent months living in a cousin鈥檚 attic. It lacked electricity, so in the summer, he fanned his 1-year-old with a piece of cardboard to keep him cool. Ultimately, he landed a rental only when a coworker with a Social Security number agreed to act as a guarantor on his lease.
鈥淚t鈥檚 unjust that the state relies on our labor to be building these things, but doesn鈥檛 allow us to live in the houses that we build,鈥� Jose Ignacio told lawmakers. His comments were translated from Spanish to English by Will Lambek of the nonprofit advocacy group Migrant Justice.
Jose Ignacio came to the Statehouse to speak in favor of , a bill that seeks to expand access to housing for immigrants without legal status living in Vermont. As the Trump administration ramps up deportation and detention of immigrants, proponents of the bill argue the state should do more to protect immigrants living in Vermont and increase their housing options. But the legislation faces headwinds from landlords and lenders.
Pushback to adding protected status
H.169 would add citizenship and immigration status to the list of protected classes in Vermont鈥檚 fair housing laws, prohibiting discrimination on those grounds when someone is seeking to rent or buy a home. The bill, , would take the additional step of banning landlords and property managers from requesting a Social Security number when a prospective tenant applies to rent a home.
The Vermont Landlord Association has objected to the addition of immigration status to the statute.
鈥淭o make a landlord have to take somebody 鈥� even if they鈥檙e not here legally 鈥� I think is a challenge and a big ask,鈥� Angela Zaikowski, the association鈥檚 director, told legislators in late March.
The association echoed these concerns in a 鈥渃all to action鈥� last week, imploring its members to reach out to legislators and adding that the proposed change 鈥渉as the potential to create federal issues for housing providers.鈥�
Asked by lawmakers whether there were past examples of landlords getting into legal trouble after renting to people without legal status, Zaikowski said no.
鈥淚 think anything is possible at this point,鈥� she added.
Lambek, from Migrant Justice, maintained that these fears of federal repercussions lacked legal basis.
鈥淎ny fear of civil or criminal liability against landlords for renting to immigrant families is simply unfounded,鈥� he said.
Representatives for lending institutions in Vermont brought parallel concerns to lawmakers, asking them to strike the 鈥渋mmigration status鈥� protection when it comes to discrimination in writing mortgages.
Christopher D鈥橢lia, president of the Vermont Bankers Association, told legislators that verifying an individual鈥檚 immigration status is required when approving some federally-backed loans. But the current political environment factors into his concerns, too.
鈥淲e see what happens on the news. We see what鈥檚 happening out there with the immigrant community,鈥� D鈥橢lia said. 鈥淭he credit risk analysis becomes much more difficult and heightened,鈥� he added. If a bank makes a loan to someone, D鈥橢lia said, and 鈥渢wo weeks from now [they] may be deported, what鈥檚 the credit risk of being able to get repaid on that loan? That is the reality we find ourselves in.鈥�
Rep. Leonora Dodge, D-Essex Town, one of the bill鈥檚 chief sponsors, countered that other states have taken similar steps to bolster their fair housing laws, like New York and Washington. When immigrants in Vermont step into a bank to make a deposit into a checking or savings account, they feel welcomed, she said 鈥� and those banks should offer loans in return.
鈥淪o that [immigrants] can build a life and form part of the economy, as taxpayers,鈥� Dodge said.
A ban on asking for Social Security numbers
The prospect of a blanket prohibition on asking for Social Security numbers during the rental application process has also drawn pushback from the Vermont Landlord Association. Zaikowski told legislators that landlords rely on Social Security numbers to conduct credit and background checks.
Using other pieces of identifying information 鈥� like a name, address and date of birth 鈥� instead of a Social Security number wouldn鈥檛 yield as much information, she argued. Landlords would need to put in more legwork to collect information on all prospective tenants, she said, which 鈥渨ould be a huge burden.鈥�
鈥淲e want housing providers to be able to have an accurate report and be making decisions based on accurate information,鈥� Zaikowski said.
At least one large landlord has said it could work around the change, however. Chris Donnelly, a lobbyist for Champlain Housing Trust, told lawmakers that his first reaction to the Social Security number prohibition was hesitation, since the northwest Vermont nonprofit uses the identifier to assess whether prospective tenants will be able to pay their rent. But further analysis revealed the housing trust could adapt without too heavy a lift, he said.
鈥淲e got pushed by advocates, and we looked into it deeper,鈥� Donnelly said. 鈥淲e found out that we can actually get this very similar amount of information without using a Social Security number.鈥�
Still, the landlord association has begun pushing for a change to the bill, asking lawmakers for an amendment that would say a landlord can鈥檛 deny a rental application because an applicant has not been issued a Social Security number. That measure would replace the language instituting an outright ban on asking for Social Security numbers from all potential tenants.
Rep. Marc Mihaly, D-Calais, who chairs the housing committee in the House, has floated a different potential change: mandating landlords accept an alternative form of government identification to a Social Security number, when one isn鈥檛 available.
Lambek, from Migrant Justice, said such a change would still allow for de facto discrimination.
鈥淚t鈥檚 very difficult for prospective tenants to have that burden of proof of 鈥� 鈥榃ell, I left that field blank, and I never got a call back, and I don鈥檛 know whether or not they discriminated against me,鈥欌�� Lambek told lawmakers. 鈥淚 think people鈥檚 experiences, even if that field were to be made optional, would remain quite consistent with what they鈥檙e experiencing now.鈥�
Mihaly said Thursday that the committee will dig into discussion on how to proceed with the bill next week 鈥� it could get rolled into an omnibus housing bill the committee is working on. He understands the concerns around the bill given the 鈥渁tmosphere of fear鈥� stoked by the Trump administration, he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 conceivable that there isn鈥檛 a will on the committee to move forward with this. It鈥檚 conceivable that they will. And I鈥檓 not sure at this point,鈥� he said.
