Megan Morse dreamed of returning to Ann Arbor, the city where she was born, to be close to her daughter and the University of Michigan Hospital, where she participates in epilepsy studies. Living with epilepsy and other disabilities, she relies on Social Security and a housing voucher to pay rent. When she applied for apartments managed by Wilson White Company, she was told that they did not accept tenants who use housing vouchers.
Our testing confirmed that Wilson White had refused to rent to people using vouchers, violating Ann Arbor’s Non-Discrimination Ordinance, which bans source of income discrimination. With FHC support, the Civil Rights Litigation Initiative (CRLI) at the University of Michigan Law School filed suit in Washtenaw County Circuit Court in 2023.
The court approved a settlement in April 2025 requiring Wilson White to accept vouchers, train its staff, and update its rental materials.
Megan’s courage led to the first successful lawsuit under Ann Arbor’s source of income ordinance, a landmark victory that expanded fair housing rights for residents who rely on housing vouchers.