The Westchester County Board of Legislators approved legislation Monday that would ban landlords from discriminating against potential renters and home buyers based on their source of income.
The bill gained notoriety over the county executive’s initial refusal to sign it into law,  though enacting such a law was one of the terms of a 2009 settlement between Westchester and the federal government in which the county agreed to provide obtain 750 units of affordable housing in some of its least integrated communities. Source of income legislation was pushed by the the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development (HUD) as a means to prevent housing discrimination against renters or buyers who receive HUD housing subsidy vouchers  or other public assistance.
The initial legislation was vetoed in June 2010 by County Executive Robert P. Astorino, a Republican who came into office after the affordable housing settlement had been signed. Astorino sent a modified bill for review by the Board of Legislators in April after the county was threatened with contempt of court, fines and the withholding of federal grants for local municipalities. He is expected to sign the latest bill into law.
This legislation contains a minor adjustment for landlords who own only a few units. The number of units that would exempt landlords from following the new legislation increased from four or less to six or less.
The legislation was approved by the board 15-2, with opposition from Republican legislators David Gelfarb  and Michael Smith.
Board Chairman Ken Jenkins, a Yonkers Democrat, was pleased by the support for the bill. “This legislation will protect seniors, veterans and low-income working families struggling to find an affordable place to live and who depend on government assistance to get by,” Jenkins said in a press release. “No form of discrimination is acceptable in Westchester.”
m stakeholders in affordable housing, including tenants, landlords, Realtors and business groups before the legislation became a complete draft, he said.
HUD was withholding $7.4 million in 2011 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds  and said without approval of the legislation, Westchester risked seeing that funding reallocated.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara had demanded that Astorino resubmit the legislation and consent to a written agreement to sign the legislation or face the consequences of court charges and fines against the county.
The legislation will include an 18-day phase in period and will expire in five years unless re-enacted. The county is responsible for informing the public of the new legislation once it becomes law.
“The Board of Legislators has done everything possible to help County Executive Astorino promote source of income protections for county residents and move Westchester closer to full compliance with the housing settlement,” Legislator Bill Ryan, D-White Plains, chair of the board’s legislation committee, saud in a press release. “Now, it”™s up to him to show the federal authorities that he”™s serious about moving forward with the settlement and protecting our CDBG funds.”
