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1. Justice.gov

Civil Liberty Division
The Fair Housing Act

The Fair Housing Act

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The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq., forbids discrimination by direct suppliers of housing, such as property managers and realty business in addition to other entities, such as towns, banks or other loan provider and property owners insurance provider whose discriminatory practices make housing unavailable to persons because of:

race or color. faith. sex. national origin. familial status, or. impairment.

In cases including discrimination in mortgage loans or home enhancement loans, the Department might submit suit under both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The Department brings cases where there is evidence of a pattern or practice of discrimination or where a rejection of rights to a group of individuals raises an issue of general public significance. Where force or threat of force is used to reject or interfere with fair housing rights, the Department of Justice may institute criminal procedures. The Fair Housing Act also offers treatments for managing individual grievances of discrimination. Individuals who think that they have been victims of a prohibited housing practice, might submit a grievance with the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] or submit their own suit in federal or state court. The Department of Justice brings fits on behalf of individuals based upon recommendations from HUD.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Race or Color

Among the central objectives of the Fair Housing Act, when Congress enacted it in 1968, was to prohibit race discrimination in sales and leasings of housing. Nevertheless, more than 30 years later, race discrimination in housing continues to be an issue. The majority of the Justice Department's pattern or practice cases include claims of race discrimination. Sometimes, housing service providers attempt to disguise their discrimination by giving incorrect information about schedule of housing, either stating that absolutely nothing was available or steering homeseekers to particular areas based upon race. Individuals who receive such false info or misdirection may have no understanding that they have actually been victims of discrimination. The Department of Justice has actually brought many cases declaring this type of discrimination based on race or color. In addition, the Department's Fair Housing Testing Program seeks to discover this kind of concealed discrimination and hold those responsible accountable. The majority of the mortgage lending cases brought by the Department under the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act have alleged discrimination based on race or color. A few of the Department's cases have likewise alleged that towns and other local government entities broke the Fair Housing Act when they rejected licenses or zoning modifications for housing developments, or relegated them to mainly minority communities, because the potential locals were anticipated to be primarily African-Americans.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Religion

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based upon faith. This restriction covers circumstances of obvious discrimination versus members of a specific religious beliefs too less direct actions, such as zoning ordinances created to restrict the usage of personal homes as a locations of praise. The variety of cases filed because 1968 declaring religious discrimination is little in contrast to a few of the other forbidden bases, such as race or national origin. The Act does consist of a restricted exception that allows non-commercial housing operated by a religious organization to reserve such housing to individuals of the exact same religious beliefs.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Sex, Including Sexual Harassment

The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of sex. In the last few years, the Department's focus in this area has actually been to challenge unwanted sexual advances in housing. Women, particularly those who are bad, and with restricted housing alternatives, typically have little option but to tolerate the embarrassment and degradation of unwanted sexual advances or threat having their households and themselves eliminated from their homes. The Department's enforcement program is intended at property owners who create an untenable living environment by demanding sexual favors from tenants or by developing a sexually hostile environment for them. In this manner we look for both to obtain relief for occupants who have been treated unjustly by a property owner because of sex and likewise hinder other possible abusers by making it clear that they can not continue their conduct without dealing with repercussions. In addition, pricing discrimination in mortgage financing may likewise negatively impact women, particularly minority women. This type of discrimination is illegal under both the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon National Origin

The Fair Housing Act forbids discrimination based upon national origin. Such discrimination can be based either upon the country of a person's birth or where his or her ancestors come from. Census data show that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing sector of our nation's population. The Justice Department has actually taken enforcement action versus municipal governments that have attempted to decrease or limit the variety of Hispanic families that might reside in their neighborhoods. We have sued lending institutions under both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act when they have imposed more rigid underwriting requirements on mortgage or made loans on less beneficial terms for Hispanic debtors. The Department has actually also taken legal action against lending institutions for discrimination versus Native Americans. Other locations of the country have experienced an increasing variety of national origin groups within their populations. This includes new immigrants from Southeastern Asia, such as the Hmong, the previous Soviet Union, and other parts of Eastern Europe. We have actually taken action against personal property owners who have victimized such people.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Familial Status

The Fair Housing Act, with some exceptions, forbids discrimination in housing against families with children under 18. In addition to forbiding a straight-out rejection of to families with kids, the Act also prevents housing service providers from imposing any unique requirements or conditions on renters with custody of children. For instance, property owners might not find families with kids in any single portion of a complex, position an unreasonable restriction on the total variety of persons who may reside in a dwelling, or limit their access to leisure services provided to other tenants. In many instances, the amended Fair Housing Act prohibits a housing company from refusing to lease or offer to households with kids. However, some centers might be designated as Housing for Older Persons (55 years of age). This type of housing, which satisfies the requirements set forth in the Housing for Older Persons Act of 1995, may run as "senior" housing. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has actually released policies and additional assistance detailing these statutory requirements.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Disability

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all types of housing transactions. The Act defines persons with a special needs to suggest those individuals with psychological or physical problems that considerably limit one or more significant life activities. The term psychological or physical impairment may include conditions such as loss of sight, hearing disability, mobility impairment, HIV infection, mental retardation, alcohol addiction, drug dependency, chronic tiredness, finding out impairment, head injury, and psychological illness. The term major life activity may include seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, carrying out manual jobs, taking care of one's self, finding out, speaking, or working. The Fair Housing Act also protects persons who have a record of such a disability, or are related to as having such a disability. Current users of illegal illegal drugs, persons founded guilty for illegal manufacture or distribution of an illegal drug, sex offenders, and juvenile wrongdoers are ruled out handicapped under the Fair Housing Act, by virtue of that status. The Fair Housing Act manages no securities to individuals with or without impairments who present a direct danger to the individuals or residential or commercial property of others. Determining whether someone presents such a direct risk should be made on a personalized basis, nevertheless, and can not be based upon general assumptions or speculation about the nature of a disability. The Division's enforcement of the Fair Housing Act's protections for persons with impairments has concentrated on 2 major locations. One is guaranteeing that zoning and other guidelines concerning land use are not utilized to hinder the property choices of these individuals, consisting of needlessly restricting common, or congregate, domestic plans, such as group homes. The 2nd location is guaranteeing that newly built multifamily housing is built in accordance with the Fair Housing Act's ease of access requirements so that it is accessible to and usable by people with specials needs, and, in particular, those who utilize wheelchairs. There are other federal statutes that restrict discrimination versus people with impairments, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is enforced by the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Liberty Division.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Disability Group Homes

Some individuals with disabilities might live together in congregate living plans, often described as "group homes." The Fair Housing Act forbids towns and other city government entities from making zoning or land usage choices or executing land usage policies that leave out or otherwise discriminate versus people with specials needs. The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful--

- To utilize land usage policies or actions that deal with groups of persons with impairments less favorably than groups of non-disabled individuals. An example would be a regulation restricting housing for individuals with impairments or a specific type of impairment, such as psychological illness, from finding in a specific location, while enabling other groups of unassociated people to cohabit in that location.
To do something about it against, or reject a license, for a home because of the special needs of individuals who live or would live there. An example would be denying a building permit for a home because it was meant to supply housing for persons with psychological retardation.
To refuse to make affordable lodgings in land use and zoning policies and treatments where such lodgings may be essential to manage persons or groups of persons with specials needs an equal opportunity to utilize and delight in housing. What constitutes a sensible accommodation is a case-by-case determination. Not all asked for adjustments of rules or policies are reasonable. If an asked for modification imposes an unnecessary financial or administrative concern on a regional federal government, or if a modification produces an essential change in a city government's land usage and zoning plan, it is not a "reasonable" accommodation.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Disability-- Accessibility Features for New Construction

The Fair Housing Act defines discrimination in housing versus persons with specials needs to include a failure "to develop and construct" particular brand-new multi-family residences so that they are accessible to and functional by individuals with disabilities, and particularly people who utilize wheelchairs. The Act requires all freshly built multi-family houses of four or more units planned for very first tenancy after March 13, 1991, to have particular functions: an available entryway on an accessible path, available typical and public usage areas, doors adequately wide to accommodate wheelchairs, available paths into and through each home, light switches, electrical outlets, and thermostats in accessible location, reinforcements in restroom walls to accommodate grab bar installations, and usable bathroom and kitchens configured so that a wheelchair can steer about the area.

Developers, builders, owners, and designers accountable for the style or building of new multi-family housing may be held accountable under the Fair Housing Act if their structures stop working to meet these design requirements. The Department of Justice has brought lots of enforcement actions against those who stopped working to do so. The majority of the cases have been solved by consent decrees providing a range of kinds of relief, including: retrofitting to bring inaccessible features into compliance where practical and where it is not-- options (monetary funds or other building and construction requirements) that will offer for making other housing units accessible