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.)