State Human Services Department: Racism Guides Landlords

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services taught employees in required online training that racism guides landlords when they select tenants. Clay Powell, director of the Rental Property Owners Association, says the claim is not only false, but irrational.

The claim appears in a section of a training program that addresses the Housing Choice Voucher Program, most commonly known as Section 8 housing. The federal social welfare program is administered by the state and subsidizes the rent of low-income individuals who find their own housing in private dwellings, according to the State of Michigan.

The training notes, “Landlords use race as a criterion for determining which property, and where, they are likely to show homes to a prospective tenant.” It also says three steps lead to “residential sorting patterns” with racial implications.

1. Selection, where landlords favor certain types of tenants
2. A matching process, where landlords cherry-pick certain types of tenants for certain types of units
3. The selective retention of tenants who do not have the means to leave

The department was asked to supply the data on which it bases the conclusion that Michigan landlords today are engaging in racist practices, perhaps in a systematic manner. Bob Wheaton, public information officer for the department, responded with a 2015 article by Eva Rosen for a group called the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, titled, “Reverse Selection: Landlords and the Sorting of HCV Renters.”

Wheaton writes, “This volume seeks to illustrate the urgent need for addressing implicit biases surrounding race and their connection to disparities we see related to criminal justice, poverty, education, and many more to share strategies for helping personnel confront their own personal beliefs and biases in order to break unconscious ‘habits of prejudice’ that may be perpetuating disparities that we see.”

When asked to respond, Powell at the property owners association said in an email, “Communities often claim landlords use ‘I don’t participate in Section 8’ as a way to discriminate based upon race. This is a false belief and accusation not backed by any evidence. In short, this is simply a rationale used by communities to explain why some families find it more difficult to secure housing.”

Powell says there are several reasons why a tenant might not be able to secure housing, including insufficient income, a poor rental history, or past evictions. The association says it encourages its landlords to use the section 8 program.