A young dad was forced to separate from his family and live in his car for six months, after being evicted for being disabled - and rejected by other landlords for claiming benefits.
Stephen Tyler, 28, said his life fell apart after he was involved in a road accident, which left him with severe spinal injuries and suffering from several mental health conditions.
In 2017, he was forced to give up his career as a delivery driver, while his wife Irene gave up work to become his full time carer alongside looking after their children full time.
But his injuries started to worsen - and being left wheelchair bound meant Stephen was unable to carry out many day-to-day tasks.
"I spoke to my landlord at the time and asked if he'd be able to make the property more wheelchair-friendly," Stephen told Mirror Money.
"I managed to get council funding - so it wouldn't have cost him a penny. Unfortunately, he still rejected it."
** Have you been affected by no DSS discrimination? Get in touch: emma.munbodh@mirror.co.uk **
Weeks later, Stephen and his family were issued with a Section 21 notice of eviction. "It was heartbreaking," he said.
The couple started house hunting, desperate to find their feet again - but quickly discovered their situation was far worse than they had ever imagined.
"I get £259 a fortnight in employment and support allowance, plus £350 a month in disability benefits," Stephen explained.
"My wife also claims carer's allowance - so combined, we had enough to rent a family home in greater Birmingham."
But despite having the funds, landlords started rejecting them - this time for being on benefits.
"That's when I found out we were basically victims of discrimination," Stephen explained.
"I phoned up dozens of estate agents and landlords but on every occasion was told 'no DSS' claimants."
"They'd say things like 'we don't know where the money is coming from', even though the answer was pretty clear."
'No DSS' has become a familiar sight on adverts for rented properties across the country over the past decade.
It stands for the 'Department for Social Security,' a government department which no longer exists, but was previously responsible for welfare benefits. It means that the landlord or letting agent won't rent to someone in receipt of any government benefits.
"As soon as they found out I was a benefit claimant, their tone changed. They became aggressive and it felt really personal," Stephen said.
"It's hard to believe this is still going on in today's world. It put enormous pressure on our entire family. We were basically being singled out for being on benefits."
Once their Section 21 notice had come to an end, the couple were forced to vacate the property - despite having nowhere to go.
"I moved into my car," Stephen explained.
"Irene and the kids moved back in with her parents. It became incredibly isolating. Every night I would say goodnight and then find somewhere suitable to park up and go to sleep. This continued for around six months."
Birmingham Council eventually got in touch with Stephen's family, offering them temporary accommodation 63 miles away.
This was followed by a property in Sheffield over 70 miles away.
"We had to turn both down as they were so far from everything - nurseries, our GP and our families."
In September 2018, Stephen finally found a property on Gumtree for £575 a month in Erdington, Birmingham. It was a relief.
"We went to pick up the keys and couldn't wait to move in," he said.
However, on collection day, the family were in for another shock.
"It was barely habitable. The radiators were all on the floor, they'd been ripped off the walls, there was no smoke alarm, no light switches and there were just live wires and cables hanging everywhere - it wasn't safe for the kids.
"But we had nowhere else to go, so we stayed there until we were finally offered a suitable council home."
In April 2019, the family moved into a nearby council property which they've now been allocated permanently.
But Stephen says he'll never forget the discrimination that he faced for being an ordinary dad in receipt of a little financial help.
"It's discrimination. You wouldn't reject someone based on their skin colour, race, sexuality or gender. It's the same thing. We didn't deserve to be treated like outsiders."
Are landlords allowed to refuse people on benefits?
However, after making its way into Parliament, Metro Bank, Natwest and The Co-operative all made the decision to scrap the term to treat everyone equally.
Property websites Rightmove and Zoopla followed suit - imposing a ban 'no DSS' adverts from letting agent listings.
However, OpenRent remains one of the only sites that still allow landlords to act in this way.
"OpenRent has no policies against tenants who claim benefits," a statement said.
"We never advise landlords not to select tenants who claim the benefits they are entitled to. Indeed, we urge landlords to consider all tenants on their individual circumstances and we offer detailed support on how to make tenancies work even when tenants fail referencing.
"OpenRent allows landlords to list their property as 'DSS income accepted'. This allows tenants who claim benefits to search for properties where their enquiry has a great chance of being accepted."
Charity Shelter has now written to the organisation urging them to revise their listing policies.
The housing charity - which helped Stephen during his struggles - said it's outright discrimination and should be banned.
Charity Shelter has now written to the organisation urging them to revise their listing policies.
Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said: "There is no excuse for letting agents or landlords to blindly discriminate against perfectly good tenants just because they receive some housing benefit.
"Not only is this way of thinking outdated and unfair, it’s completely unlawful too. Because 'No DSS' affects more women and disabled people - like Stephen - who are more likely to need a little help with their rent, it falls foul of the Equality Act.
"Shelter is campaigning hard to ensure this prejudice stops and has recently supported several successful legal cases against No DSS discrimination, resulting in large fines for the letting agents who admitted breaking the law. This should act as a sharp wake-up call to the lettings industry to start treating everyone fairly on a case by case basis. Otherwise they risk serious legal action and having to fork out for a hefty fine."
If you've been a victim of property discrimination, you can get help from Shelter, here.
