.webp)
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Laws and local ordinances are subject to change, and their application can vary based on individual circumstances. For guidance specific to your property or situation, please consult a licensed attorney.
For years, landlords in the City of St. Louis had to navigate a local ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on a tenant's lawful source of income, including Section 8 housing vouchers. That changed when Governor Mike Kehoe signed House Bill 595 into law, a statewide preemption bill that voids St. Louis's local source-of-income protections along with similar ordinances in other Missouri cities. If your last understanding of this issue predates the bill's signing, it's worth a fresh look, since the legal landscape here has genuinely shifted.
Key Takeaways
Missouri House Bill 595 preempts local governments from enforcing ordinances that prohibit landlords from discriminating against tenants based on their lawful source of income, voiding protections previously in place in St. Louis, Webster Groves, Columbia, Clayton, and part of Kansas City.
The bill prevents municipalities from restricting a landlord's use of credit scores or background checks in tenant screening.
It prohibits local governments from capping security deposit amounts below what state law allows.
Localities are barred from requiring that tenants receive a right of first refusal when a property is sold.
St. Louis City's Ordinance 69953, which outlawed source-of-income discrimination (including Section 8 vouchers), is no longer enforceable.
Federal and state fair housing protections covering race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability remain fully in effect.
St. Louis's local protections for sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination were unaffected by HB 595.
What HB 595 Actually Preempts
HB 595 targets four specific categories of local tenant protection ordinances. It prevents cities and counties from prohibiting landlords from discriminating against tenants based on a lawful, verifiable source of income, which includes Section 8 vouchers, veterans' benefits, Social Security, and child support.
It also prevents localities from restricting a landlord's ability to use credit scores or background checks in screening decisions, from capping security deposit amounts more restrictively than state law already does, and from requiring a tenant to receive a right of first refusal when a property owner decides to sell. This is a genuinely broad preemption bill, not a narrow tweak to one specific rule, and it reaches several different areas of local tenant protection at once.
What This Means Specifically for St. Louis
Before HB 595, St. Louis City Ordinance 69953 made it illegal to refuse to rent to a tenant, or otherwise discriminate against them, solely because they intended to pay using a Housing Choice Voucher or another form of lawful government assistance. That ordinance is no longer enforceable. A landlord operating a property within St. Louis city limits can now decline an applicant specifically because they hold a Section 8 voucher, without running afoul of the local ordinance that used to prohibit exactly that.
This is a real, practical shift for any West End-managed property in the city, and it's worth updating internal screening policies to reflect the current legal landscape rather than continuing to operate under assumptions that predate this bill, particularly for owners who set their leasing criteria years ago and haven't revisited them since.
What Hasn't Changed
It's important not to overcorrect here. Federal Fair Housing Act protections, covering race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability, are completely untouched by HB 595, since this bill addresses source-of-income and specific landlord-tenant provisions rather than the core protected classes under federal law. St. Louis City's separate ordinance prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity also remains in effect, since HB 595 didn't target that protection specifically.
A landlord who reads headlines about this bill and assumes all local anti-discrimination rules have been swept away is working from an incomplete picture, and applying that assumption incorrectly can still create real fair housing exposure under the categories that remain fully protected. This is exactly the kind of nuance our tenant screening process is built to apply consistently, distinguishing between what changed and what didn't for every applicant.
Updating Your Screening and Advertising Practices
Given this shift, it's worth reviewing current listing language, screening criteria, and internal policies to confirm they accurately reflect what Missouri law now requires, rather than what was true a year or two ago. Landlords who choose to continue accepting Section 8 vouchers as a matter of business practice can still do so; HB 595 removes the legal requirement to consider them, but it doesn't prohibit a landlord from choosing to.
Keeping documentation of your screening criteria and how they're applied consistently across every applicant remains good practice regardless of what any specific local ordinance requires, since consistency protects a landlord under the fair housing categories that are still fully enforceable. Our clearly written lease agreements already build this kind of consistency from the start of every tenancy we place. Our owner FAQs page covers several related questions we've been fielding from St. Louis-area owners since this law took effect.
FAQ
Can I now deny an applicant in St. Louis specifically because they use a Section 8 voucher?
Under current Missouri law, yes. HB 595 preempts St. Louis's local ordinance that previously prohibited source-of-income discrimination, so that specific local protection is no longer enforceable.
Does this affect federal Fair Housing Act protections?
No. Federal protections covering race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability are unaffected by HB 595 and remain fully in force.
Is St. Louis's sexual orientation and gender identity protection still in effect?
Yes. HB 595 specifically targeted source-of-income and certain landlord-tenant provisions, not the city's separate anti-discrimination ordinance covering sexual orientation and gender identity.
Can local governments still cap security deposits or restrict background check use?
No, not below what Missouri state law already allows. HB 595 also preempts local ordinances that would have restricted credit and background check use or imposed a lower security deposit cap than state law.
Staying Current on a Genuinely Shifting Legal Landscape
Missouri's HB 595 marks a real reversal of protections that St. Louis landlords have operated under for years, and treating this as settled, static law going forward would be a mistake given how actively this area of policy continues to move at the state level. Understanding exactly what changed, what remains protected, and how to update your screening and advertising practices accordingly protects you from both outdated assumptions and genuine fair housing exposure under the rules that are still very much in effect.
If you'd like help reviewing your current tenant screening policies for a St. Louis or St. Charles rental, reach out to our team today.
