Another is Portland, Ore., where in 1991 the City Council passed an ordinance that prohibits housing discrimination based on ''source of income.''

The ordinance makes it illegal to discriminate against people because of their occupation or because their source of income is Government welfare or Social Security checks. People whose source of income is criminal activity are not covered, nor are those who have Federal rent subsidies.

MR. LIEBAERT'S troubles started in February, when he tried to buy a five-bedroom, four-bath home for $145,900 for himself, his wife, Kelly, and their two infant daughters. When told that he could not buy a house at Fairway Oaks, and after his $3,000 deposit on a lot was returned with the word ''void'' marked across the check, he filed a suit in State Superior Court in Kern County.

In the suit, Mr. Liebaert claimed that Burlington Homes had violated the state's civil rights law by refusing to sell him a home because of his profession. The law is typically used to protect people from discrimination based on factors including race, sex and religion.

Donovan Judkins, president of Burlington Homes, acknowledged that his company was indeed wary of selling houses to lawyers. Such precautions are necessary, he said in an interview, to keep the company profitable and prices low.

''We do not need to do business with everyone who walks in the door,'' Mr. Judkins said, ''just like a lawyer doesn't have to take on everyone who walks in the door as a client. Being an attorney in our eyes says, 'Open your eyes wider.' ''

But Mr. Judkins said his company, which is based in Bakersfield, a city of 174,000 110 miles north of Los Angeles, did not have an absolute policy against selling houses to lawyers. In fact, he said, the company ''consciously'' sold a house to one ''classy'' lawyer who has yet to cause the company any problems.