A New York State appeals court on Thursday invalidated a key protection for low-income tenants, ruling that a state law that bars landlords from discriminating against people who use federal housing vouchers to pay rent is unconstitutional.
The unanimous ruling, by a five-judge panel of the Appellate Division’s Third Judicial Department, acknowledged that the goal of the law was “laudable,” particularly given the shortage of affordable housing in New York.
But the court sided with the landlord who had appealed the case, asserting that requiring him to accept vouchers under the federal program commonly known as Section 8 violated his constitutional rights.
The landlord, Jason Fane of Ithaca, N.Y., had argued that, under the voucher program, he would have had to allow housing officials to inspect his properties without a warrant, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
“We are constrained to conclude that the law is unconstitutional on its face,” the judges wrote.
The ruling was immediately met with concern by tenant advocates and public officials in the state, where federal vouchers help more than 245,000 households pay rent.
Letitia James, the New York attorney general, sued Mr. Fane in 2022, accusing him of violating the state law. She said her office was reviewing the decision.
“Every New Yorker deserves access to safe and dignified housing regardless of their income or background,” she said in a statement.
Discrimination against people who use rental assistance, also known as “source of income” discrimination, has remained a pervasive practice around the country, shutting low-income tenants out of many types of homes. It can exacerbate segregation and tie up the housing market.
Renters with a Section 8 voucher spend up to 40 percent of their income on rent, with federal funds covering the rest.
Many landlords have complained that the paperwork and inspections required to participate in Section 8 can be onerous.
It was not immediately clear what the effect of the ruling would be in New York City, which has its own protections against such discrimination. About 140,000 households in the city use Section 8, according to federal data; the city also has its own voucher program, known as CityFHEPS, which is used by an additional 65,000 households.
A spokesman for City Hall, Matthew Rauschenbach, said the city was “evaluating potential implications.”
A lawyer for Mr. Fane, Curtis Johnson, said on Thursday that the judges “correctly concluded” that the state cannot coerce landlords into “waiving privacy rights.” He said that the Section 8 program was meant to be voluntary, but that the state and the city wanted to make it mandatory “without considering the impact on landlords.”
Mihir Zaveri covers housing in the New York City region for The Times.
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