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by Guy Page
Immigrant farmworkers in Vermont will no longer be required to provide a Social Security number on rental applications under a new state law signed by Gov. Phil Scott in June, according to a story published by the news site Civil Eats.
The relaxing of rental application ID is tucked into Senate Bill 127, an ‘omnibus’ bill dealing with many housing issues and regulations. The law prohibits landlords from rejecting tenants who do not submit a Social Security number and requires them to accept any form of valid, unexpired government-issued identification. The measure also bans application fees for residential rentals.
According to the Act Summary of S.127, ‘The act amends the State public accommodation and unfair housing practices act to prohibit discrimination against individuals based on citizenship or immigration status. The act authorizes a landlord to accept different forms of identification to conduct criminal or background checks and prohibits landlords from requiring a Social Security number on a residential rental application. The act authorizes differential treatment on the basis of citizenship or immigration status if required by federal law and authorizes lenders to take into account immigration status when making credit determinations.’
According to a July news story on the news site Civil Eats, supporters say the law is aimed at expanding access to safe and secure housing for immigrant families, many of whom have faced rejection despite being able to pay rent and provide references.
California-based Civil Eats bills itself as an award-winning news site dedicated to critical thinking about the American food system.
“We’ve been seeing a lot of abuses,” said Rep. Leonora Dodge (D-Essex), the bill’s lead sponsor, per the Civil Eats story. “A lot of young families are experiencing very dangerous situations, overcrowding, and instability. It’s a very tough housing market in Vermont, and people who were able and willing to pay rent, and could give good references, just weren’t even getting a foot in the door and were being rejected.”
The measure was championed by Migrant Justice, a Vermont-based advocacy group for immigrant farmworkers, which celebrated its passage at the State House the day after the governor signed it, Civil Eats said. The organization has argued that tying housing to employment on farms leaves workers vulnerable to unsafe conditions and retaliation.
“What that means for people in the farmworking community is that we’re obligated to stay on jobs where our rights aren’t being respected and we’re being abused, just because the farm is the only place where we’re able to get housing,” a Migrant Justice member said at the event.
A 2021 report by the Vermont Housing Conservation Board found that 85 percent of farmworker housing in the state needed improvement, and that a shortage of dwellings on farms contributed to overcrowding. A 2024 Fair Housing Analysis noted that immigrant workers who live in employer-provided housing are often reluctant to report unsafe conditions because of the risk of deportation.
Landlord and banking groups had raised concerns about the bill, warning that background and credit checks would be harder to perform without Social Security numbers. “To make a landlord have to take somebody—even if they’re not here legally—I think is a challenge and a big ask,” Angela Zaikowski, director of the Vermont Landlord Association, testified in April.
But Dodge said she spoke with housing experts who explained that credit and background checks can be run using only a name, birth date, and address. With that knowledge, she reintroduced the bill earlier this year after a previous version stalled in 2023.
“Migrant Justice was really the spirit. They spearheaded the effort,” Dodge said. “As the sponsor of the bill, my job was to lay the groundwork on the political and legislative side.”
The bill drew support from more than a dozen advocacy and government organizations, including the Housing and Homelessness Alliance of Vermont, the Vermont Human Rights Commission, and the ACLU of Vermont.
(Much of the information in this news story was sourced from the July 16 Civil Eats report.)
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Categories: Housing
Immigrants Wokers getting safe and secure housing despite ability to pay . How can a working immigrant afford and have affordable housing when generational Vermont’s and Tac paying Citizens don’t have access to safe affordable housing .Are there really few Vermonters that cannot see the irony of this .
Simple answer yes. Blissful ignorance is better than speaking up. Not many have the balls to stand for anything. Hand open, mouth shut.
This right here is what pisses me off. Oh no Pam Bondi, we’re not a sanctuary state. Please don’t take our federal funding. But we will directly go against federal directive, pass a law in contradiction to federal law, and whine about consequences. Scott, your not a leader, your a Rhino. Grow a pair, these people shouldn’t be here, and the farmers housing them should be prosecuted and fined, federally. Please come to Vermont Pam and Tom.1
Why aren’t we helping those who want to work in Vermont to get their U.S. Citizenship or other legal work permits so they can be here legally?
Instead, the Dems/Progs/Leftists blatantly break Federal Immigration Laws to harbor illegal aliens and then lie to Vermont Taxpayers repeatedly saying “Vermont is not a Sanctuary State.”
TRUMP: Sic’ ’em!!!!!!
And can’t help but chuckle at all the Vermonters who thought the “affordable” and “workforce” housing creating was for their poor kiddo’s who couldn’t seem to locate a place to live in the state under any circumstances….
LOOK. HARDER. – Like on the obscure Realtor.com for starters(!) – and quit buying what these politico’s are selling.
1-866-DHS-2-ICE — Report anonymously and frequently!!!!!
This exposes our affordable housing scam, which is designed for illegal aliens and cheap labor. Wonder why it’s unaffordable in Vermont?
Montpelier, here’s your sign.
IF illegal aliens don’t need social security numbers to work and live in Vermont,
Why do we??????
Because we are the law abiding citizens whom help pay for their housing, vehicles, food, health care, cell phones, etc. Taxes have to come from somewhere!
Vermonters who work in the service industry, bartenders and waitstaff are in the same predicament. Where is the affordable housing for these citizens?
I’m not sure what makes me angrier, those who are here illegally claiming they are being exploited, the employers who are exploiting them, or the state that is facilitating the situation. Don’t complain to me that you are being abused when you are flouting our laws and taking benefits that come from taxes on my labor–go home. And politicians, don’t try to make me feel sorry for these people when you are allowing situations like this to fester.
Again – Who gets paid when these people are housed? Follow the money. WWHT works with what stakeholders? Which developers??? Some of the names will be very familiar.
The insanity of the left never ceases to amaze.
The reason ss#s are needed is so that a landlord can recourse if stiffed by dead beat tenants or if a tenant moves out and causes excessive damage.
With the ss# the landlord can send unpaid rent or damage fees to a collection agency that can then report the unpaid balance to the credit bureaus. Or if they file a law suit and obtain a judgement, once recorded, that judgement can be picked up by the credit bureaus and applied to the tenant’s credit report.
Most deadbeats don’t care, but at least it’s something. Now the landlords have even less to work with.
And if you rent to an illegal alien, what happens if they get deported or just self deport, and don’t settle up with unpaid rent or damage? This leaves the landlord holding the bag, again.
They talk about fairness. Where’s the fairness for the landlord trying to pay his mortgage on his property? This defies common sense. And how pathetic that Scott signed this.
“Four Apartments for New Americans Open in Montpelier” reads the headline in The Bridge this week. Yet I could name at least half a dozen people I know, (all Not New Americans), that can’t find affordable housing anywhere near Montpelier.
SMH…
Another way this contributes to the “housing shortage” is I personally know 4 people that have nicely remodeled apartments and they are REFUSING to put them on the market. Why? Because they don’t want to get stuck with deadbeat, destructive, or illegal tenants and have no protection from them and limited legal recourse.
“The act authorizes differential treatment on the basis of citizenship or immigration status if required by federal law and authorizes lenders to take into account immigration status when making credit determinations.”
There you have it – they codified a two tier justice and financial system – favoring and advancing the non-cititzen over the natural born or legalized citizen. Proof we are no longer a Constitutional Republic? Proof our representation is rogue and fraudulent?
Good to know. When asked to check the appropriate boxes is nothing more than a means to willfully and knowingly discriminate and subjugate with impunity. Enslaving the illegals and the natives with varying lawfare warfare touted as assistance, when it is actually malfeasance against both when all is said and done. Is there a remedy? There would be if People were not scammed out of their resources and assets – which is the set up by design for the rug pull. Depopulation, wealth transfer, reset – Agenda 2030. The EU is cratering under the same deeds done dirty -we are next.
This is yet another burden on landlords. Now they’re not allowed to demand social security numbers to do background checks on potential tenants, and they cannot collect an application fee to pay for the background checks.
In spite of Migrant Justice’s absurd claims that illegal farmworkers are being ‘abused’ on farma or in any way being exploited on farms, the actual truth is that dairy farm jobs are highly coveted by the illegal Mexicans who come here mainly from southern Mexico. That is precisely why they willingly pay approximately $14,000 to make the journey from southern Mexico to Northern VT, part of which pays the cartels to guide them illegally across the desert, and the rest paid to private transporters to drive them to VT from the southern border. That is also why they have brought, and continue to bring, their male relatives, wives and children here (wives and kids live rent free at the farm owner’s expense).
They specifically come here to work on dairy farms bc they know the farmers pay for housing, heat, electricity, water, trash, internet, satellite and snow removal. The workers just buy groceries. And no worker is earning less than $700 (net) a week. Many earn almost $1000 a week. Imagine taking home that much money and only paying for groceries? They are well aware of how good they have it, thus, even suggesting they would ever be willing to go pay rent somewhere is just fantastical.
Even if an illegal immigrant wanted to rent here in VT, why on earth would our state make it easier for them when we already have a housing shortage and actual citizens can’t find affordable housing? Unreal that we even have to fight something like this that utterly defiea not only laws but all common sense.