{"id":781310,"date":"2026-05-08T05:53:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:53:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/781310\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T05:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T05:53:16","slug":"san-antonio-approves-veteran-housing-protections-despite-clashes-over-landlord-exemptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/781310\/","title":{"rendered":"San Antonio approves veteran housing protections despite clashes over landlord exemptions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for TPR Today<\/a>, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each morning.<\/p>\n

San Antonio City Council approved an ordinance Thursday aimed at preventing landlords from rejecting otherwise qualified veterans because they use federal housing vouchers to help pay rent.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the ordinance said many veterans struggle to find landlords willing to accept the vouchers, even when the federal assistance guarantees a portion of the rent payment.<\/p>\n

Veterans and family members packed council chambers Thursday to urge passage of the ordinance and share their experiences finding housing.<\/p>\n

Felix Rodriguez, a Bronze Star recipient from the Vietnam War, traveled from the Rio Grande Valley to speak on behalf of veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard a cry today. I hear a cry now. And I\u2019m sure you hear that cry as well from veterans here in San Antonio that need housing,\u201d said Rodriguez.<\/p>\n

Several council members cited city data showing only a small share of rental listings advertise that they accept housing vouchers, reinforcing arguments that veterans face barriers finding stable housing.<\/p>\n

Vouchers generally cover the difference between 30% of a household\u2019s income and the fair market rent for the unit. To qualify, households must have incomes below 80% of the area median. For Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers, applicants must also be veterans who have experienced homelessness.<\/p>\n

Texas law does not allow cities to create blanket source-of-income protections for all renters, but cities can adopt those protections specifically for veterans.<\/p>\n

Fort Worth adopted similar protections for veterans using housing vouchers in 2023.<\/p>\n

Maria Alejandra Carrier is a 10-year combat veteran who serves on the Veterans Advisory Commission.<\/p>\n

“Military City, USA, cannot be something we just say. It has to mean something for veterans living here right now. Too many veterans using VASH vouchers still face barriers trying to access stable housing in San Antonio. Where a veteran is allowed to live impacts access to health care, transportation and opportunity,” said Carrier.<\/p>\n

\"Mayor<\/p>\n

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones stands with San Antonio and South Texas veterans outside City Hall advocating for an end to housing discrimination against veterans who use federal housing vouchers.<\/p>\n

But divisions quickly emerged over how aggressively the city should regulate landlords.<\/p>\n

The ordinance approved Thursday applies only to landlords with five or more rental units, exempting smaller property owners from the new requirements.<\/p>\n

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones pushed to remove that exemption and argued the city should take a stronger approach to preventing discrimination against veterans who use vouchers.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, if the crux of the ordinance is based on how many somebody owns, and we don\u2019t have any data that shows how many somebody owns, then the ordinance is quite ineffective,\u201d said Jones.<\/p>\n

Several council members, however, said they were concerned the ordinance could become overly punitive for landlords and small property owners.<\/p>\n

Landlords and apartment industry groups opposed to the ordinance have cited slow inspections, bureaucratic paperwork, payment delays and rent limits as reasons some property owners avoid voucher programs.<\/p>\n

District 10 Councilman Marc Whyte said he worried the ordinance was being rushed and warned that policies reflecting \u201conly one side of the story\u201d can lead to loopholes and enforcement issues.<\/p>\n

Council rejected Jones\u2019 proposed changes in a 7-4 vote, leaving the exemption for smaller landlords in place.<\/p>\n

City Council later unanimously approved the ordinance without Jones\u2019 proposed changes.<\/p>\n

The council will revisit the ordinance in six months.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for TPR Today, Texas Public Radio’s newsletter that brings our top stories to your inbox each…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":781311,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-781310","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-san-antonio","10":"tag-sanantonio","11":"tag-texas","12":"tag-tx","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-united-states-of-america","15":"tag-unitedstates","16":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","17":"tag-us","18":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116537407717131646","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781310","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781310"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781310\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/781311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781310"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781310"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781310"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}