Talking About DC's Voucher Programs on the REI Concierge Podcast

We recently joined The REI Concierge team, Tim & Lisa, for a chat about fair housing and voucher programs available in DC. For us at Flock, conversations with new clients always touch on these topics for a few reasons. DC has more protected classes than any city in the country. Before renting, property owners need to be well-informed about how to comply with our fair housing regulations, and some of the things that come up can be a surprise. 

One of DC’s protected classes is source of income. That means regardless of where your income comes from (a salaried job, the gig economy, self-employment, loans, etc) the property owner must consider your full income. In many parts of the country, source of income is not protected, and folks can choose to deny people whose income stems from a voucher program or other form of rental assistance. 

In DC, it’s illegal to state that you do not accept vouchers, but that phrase is still seen in rental advertisements today. Not only do we require that all our clients comply with fair housing for obvious reasons (e.g. avoiding a lawsuit!) but Flock actually believes that working with rental assistance programs provides a benefit to our owners, our community, and to the tenants that rely on them. That’s a big focus of this episode; investing in the community is always a smart strategy. We hope you'll give it a listen!

At Flock, we believe that happy homes make for happy residents, who cultivate strong, local communities that sustain our city, DC. Check out our other posts for more happy home content and stay tuned for more in this series about fair housing in DC!