Housing Rights of Domestic Violence Survivors - A State and Local Law Compendium - January 2013

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Oliver

Housing Rights of Domestic Violence Survivors - A State and Local Law Compendium (January 2013) compiles state and local laws that affect survivors’ housing protections. The document is intended to help advocates begin research into housing rights offered by their jurisdictions, while emphasizing case-by-case review for validity and enforceability. It outlines key protection categories such as anti-discrimination rules, eviction defenses tied to domestic violence-related circumstances, limits on landlord restrictions on emergency assistance, lock-change requirements with documentation, and early lease termination based on verified domestic violence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages230

Reading Time9 h 40 min

AccessFree to download

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ALABAMA

ALASKA

ARIZONA

ARKANSAS

CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

COLORADO

CONNECTICUT

DELAWARE

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

FLORIDA

GEORGIA

HAWAII

IDAHO

ILLINOIS

INDIANA

IOWA

KANSAS

KENTUCKY

LOUISIANA

MAINE

MARYLAND

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 rightson 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 [mschultzman@nhlp.org](mschultzman@nhlp.org) 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...........................................................................................................................

FAQs

What is the purpose of this compendium?

It compiles state and local laws affecting domestic violence survivors’ housing rights, serving as a starting point for advocates’ research on housing protections in each state.

Why must advocates review protections on a case-by-case basis?

Because advocates must verify the provisions affecting housing rights for domestic violence survivors to ensure their validity and enforceability in each state.

What types of housing protections are included as examples?

Examples include anti-discrimination protections, eviction defenses related to attempts to evict based on an abuser’s crimes or lease violations, limits on landlords restricting calls to police or emergency assistance, lock changes upon documentation, and early lease termination without further rent obligation when documentation is provided.

Sep 17, 2026

Uploaded by Oliver