HOUSING RIGHTS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS A STATE AND LOCAL LAW COMPENDIUM January 2013 Dear Advocates: The following is a compendium of state and local laws that affect domestic violence survivors’ housing rights. This compendium is designed to serve as a starting point for advocates seeking to conduct research on the housing protections that their state laws offer for domestic violence survivors. Advocates should review provisions affecting domestic violence survivors’ housing rights on a case-by-case basis to ensure their validity and enforceability in each state. For purposes of brevity, in some instances statutes are excerpted to include only the information that is relevant to domestic violence and housing. Advocates throughout the country are implementing a variety of state and local housing protections for domestic violence survivors. These efforts build upon a movement within the domestic violence and housing advocacy communities to address obstacles survivors face in maintaining housing, such as being evicted for calling the police or because the batterer caused a disturbance at the dwelling. Examples of state and local domestic violence housing protections include laws that: (1) prohibit housing discrimination based on an applicant or tenant’s status as a survivor of domestic violence; (2) provide an eviction defense where the landlord tries to evict the victim because the abuser committed a crime or lease violation at the rental unit; (3) bar landlords from limiting a tenant’s right to call for police or emergency assistance; (4) require landlords to change locks where tenants have provided documentation of domestic violence; and (5) permit early lease termination without further obligation to pay the rent where tenants provide landlords with documentation of domestic violence. This compendium was last updated in January 2013. Because many states are in the process of adopting and amending domestic violence and housing laws, advocates should carefully review their state’s laws and pending legislation to obtain the most current information. We encourage advocates to send comments, corrections, and updates. National Housing Law Project thanks the following for their contributions to this compendium: Rebekah Barlow, Jennifer Ebling, Lisa Feramisco, Christian Kurpiewski, and Minming Wu. Meliah Schultzman, Attorney National Housing Law Project [email protected] This project was supported by Grant No. 2008-TA-AX-K030 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S. Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women. TABLE OF CONTENTS ALABAMA .........................................................................................................................................1 ALASKA ............................................................................................................................................2 ARIZONA ...........................................................................................................................................3 ARKANSAS ........................................................................................................................................7 CALIFORNIA ....................................................................................................................................10 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA ........................................................................................................20 COLORADO .....................................................................................................................................23 CONNECTICUT .................................................................................................................................26 DELAWARE .....................................................................................................................................30 DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ..................................................................................................................31 FLORIDA .........................................................................................................................................38 GEORGIA .........................................................................................................................................41 HAWAII ...........................................................................................................................................42 IDAHO .............................................................................................................................................43 ILLINOIS ..........................................................................................................................................47 INDIANA ..........................................................................................................................................54 IOWA ...............................................................................................................................................62 KANSAS ..........................................................................................................................................65 KENTUCKY .....................................................................................................................................70 LOUISIANA ......................................................................................................................................71 MAINE ............................................................................................................................................75 MARYLAND ....................................................................................................................................80 MASSACHUSETTS ............................................................................................................................88 MICHIGAN .......................................................................................................................................96 MINNESOTA ..................................................................................................................................101 MISSISSIPPI ...................................................................................................................................106 MISSOURI ......................................................................................................................................112 MONTANA .....................................................................................................................................115 NEBRASKA ....................................................................................................................................119 NEVADA ........................................................................................................................................122 NEW HAMPSHIRE ..........................................................................................................................126 NEW JERSEY .................................................................................................................................131 NEW MEXICO ................................................................................................................................138 NEW YORK ...................................................................................................................................140 WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK............................................................................................146 NORTH CAROLINA ........................................................................................................................148 NORTH DAKOTA ...........................................................................................................................153 OHIO .............................................................................................................................................156 OKLAHOMA ..................................................................................................................................159 OREGON ........................................................................................................................................162 PENNSYLVANIA .............................................................................................................................172 RHODE ISLAND .............................................................................................................................177 SOUTH CAROLINA .........................................................................................................................182 SOUTH DAKOTA ............................................................................................................................183 TENNESSEE ...................................................................................................................................184 TEXAS ...........................................................................................................................................186 UTAH ............................................................................................................................................191 VERMONT