Opinion ID: 1946648
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The County Housing Discrimination Ordinance

Text: Montgomery County has had a local fair housing law since 1968. Initially, the law prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of housing in the county based on color, religious creed, ancestry, or national origin. See Mont. Citizens League v. Greenhalgh, 253 Md. 151, 252 A.2d 242 (1969). Over the years, that law has become incorporated into a much broader anti-discrimination ordinance, and several additional bases of discrimination have been prohibited. See MCC, Ch. 27, §§ 27-1 through 27-63. In 1991, the County Council added to § 27-12, which prohibits discriminatory housing practices, provisions that make it unlawful for certain landlords in the county to refuse to lease or rent housing to any person based on source of income. [4] That term is defined in § 27-6 as including any lawful source of money, paid directly or indirectly to a renter or buyer of housing, including income from . . . any government or private assistance, grant, or loan program. The county construes source of income as including Section 8 vouchers.