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1. Justice.gov
2. Civil Rights Division
3. 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 service providers of housing, such as proprietors and realty companies along with other entities, such as municipalities, banks or other loan provider and house owners insurance provider whose inequitable practices make housing not available to persons because of:

race or color.
faith.
sex.
nationwide origin.
familial status, or.
disability.

In cases involving discrimination in mortgage loans or home enhancement loans, the Department may submit suit under both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. The Department brings cases where there is proof of a pattern or practice of discrimination or where a rejection of rights to a group of individuals raises a concern of basic public significance. Where force or danger of force is used to reject or disrupt reasonable housing rights, the Department of Justice might institute criminal procedures. The Fair Housing Act likewise provides procedures for handling private grievances of discrimination. Individuals who believe that they have been victims of an illegal housing practice, might submit a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development [HUD] or file their own suit in federal or state court. The Department of Justice brings suits on behalf of individuals based upon recommendations from HUD.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Race or Color

One of the central objectives of the Fair Housing Act, when Congress enacted it in 1968, was to restrict race discrimination in sales and rentals of housing. Nevertheless, more than thirty years later, race discrimination in housing continues to be an issue. The bulk of the Justice Department's pattern or practice cases involve claims of race discrimination. Sometimes, housing companies try to disguise their discrimination by giving incorrect details about availability of housing, either stating that nothing was offered or steering homeseekers to specific locations based upon race. Individuals who get such incorrect details or misdirection might have no knowledge that they have been victims of discrimination. The Department of Justice has brought many cases alleging this sort of discrimination based on race or color. In addition, the Department's Fair Housing Testing Program looks for to uncover this kind of covert discrimination and hold those responsible liable. 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 upon race or color. A few of the Department's cases have likewise alleged that municipalities and other city government entities violated the Fair Housing Act when they rejected authorizations or zoning modifications for housing developments, or relegated them to mainly minority areas, due to the fact that the prospective residents were anticipated to be mainly African-Americans.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Religion

The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based upon religion. This restriction covers circumstances of overt discrimination against members of a particular faith as well less direct actions, such as zoning ordinances developed to limit the usage of private homes as a locations of praise. The number of cases filed considering that 1968 declaring spiritual discrimination is small in contrast to some of the other restricted bases, such as race or nationwide origin. The Act does consist of a restricted exception that enables non-commercial housing run by a religious company to reserve such housing to individuals of the exact same religion.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Sex, Including Sexual Harassment

The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in housing on the basis of sex. Over the last few years, the Department's focus in this location has been to challenge sexual harassment in housing. Women, particularly those who are bad, and with restricted housing options, typically have little option but to endure the humiliation and destruction of unwanted sexual advances or danger having their families and themselves removed from their homes. The Department's enforcement program is intended at property owners who create an illogical living environment by requiring sexual favors from tenants or by creating a sexually hostile environment for them. In this manner we look for both to get relief for occupants who have been treated unjustly by a proprietor due to the fact that of sex and also hinder other prospective abusers by making it clear that they can not continue their conduct without dealing with repercussions. In addition, pricing discrimination in mortgage lending might also negatively impact women, especially minority females. 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 restricts discrimination based upon national origin. Such discrimination can be based either upon the nation of an individual's birth or where his or her ancestors stem. Census data indicate that the Hispanic population is the fastest growing section of our nation's population. The Justice Department has taken enforcement action versus local governments that have actually attempted to decrease or limit the variety of Hispanic families that might reside in their communities. We have actually taken legal action against loan providers under both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act when they have imposed more stringent underwriting requirements on mortgage or made loans on less beneficial terms for Hispanic borrowers. The Department has also sued lending institutions for discrimination against Native Americans. Other locations of the country have experienced an increasing diversity of national origin groups within their populations. This includes brand-new immigrants from Southeastern Asia, such as the Hmong, the former Soviet Union, and other portions of Eastern Europe. We have actually done something about it versus personal landlords who have discriminated against such individuals.

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 restricting an outright denial of housing to households with children, the Act also avoids housing companies from enforcing any unique requirements or conditions on occupants with custody of kids. For instance, proprietors might not locate households with children in any single portion of a complex, place an unreasonable constraint on the total variety of persons who might live in a dwelling, or restrict their access to recreational services provided to other occupants. In the majority of instances, the amended Fair Housing Act prohibits a housing provider from declining to lease or sell to households with kids. However, some centers might be designated as Housing for Older Persons (55 years of age). This type of housing, which fulfills 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 guidelines and additional assistance detailing these statutory requirements.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Disability

The Fair Housing Act forbids discrimination on the basis of impairment in all kinds of housing deals. The Act defines persons with a special needs to indicate those people with psychological or physical impairments that significantly restrict several significant life activities. The term psychological or physical disability might include conditions such as blindness, hearing disability, mobility disability, HIV infection, mental retardation, alcohol addiction, drug dependency, persistent tiredness, finding out impairment, head injury, and mental disorder. The term significant life activity might consist of seeing, hearing, strolling, breathing, performing manual jobs, taking care of one's self, learning, speaking, or working. The Fair Housing Act likewise safeguards individuals who have a record of such a disability, or are considered as having such a problems. Current users of unlawful illegal drugs, persons convicted for unlawful manufacture or circulation of a controlled substance, sex wrongdoers, and juvenile offenders are not considered handicapped under the Fair Housing Act, by virtue of that status. The Fair Housing Act affords no securities to individuals with or without disabilities who provide a direct hazard to the persons or residential or commercial property of others. Determining whether somebody poses such a direct danger should be made on a customized basis, nevertheless, and can not be based on general assumptions or speculation about the nature of a disability. The Division's enforcement of the Fair Housing Act's securities for persons with disabilities has actually focused on two significant locations. One is guaranteeing that zoning and other policies concerning land usage are not utilized to hinder the domestic options of these individuals, consisting of unnecessarily restricting communal, or gather, property arrangements, such as group homes. The 2nd location is insuring that recently constructed multifamily housing is constructed in accordance with the Fair Housing Act's ease of access requirements so that it is available to and usable by people with impairments, and, in particular, those who utilize wheelchairs. There are other federal statutes that restrict discrimination versus individuals with impairments, consisting of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which is implemented by the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division.

Discrimination in Housing Based Upon Disability Group Homes

Some people with impairments might live together in congregate living arrangements, frequently referred to as "group homes." The Fair Housing Act prohibits towns and other regional government entities from making zoning or land usage decisions or executing land use policies that exclude or otherwise victimize individuals with specials needs. The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal--

- To use land usage policies or actions that deal with groups of individuals with disabilities less favorably than groups of non-disabled individuals. An example would be a regulation forbiding housing for individuals with impairments or a specific type of disability, such as mental disorder, from locating in a particular area, while enabling other groups of unassociated people to live together because area.
- To take action against, or deny a permit, for a home since of the disability of individuals who live or would live there. An example would be denying a structure license for a home due to the fact that it was intended to supply housing for individuals with mental retardation.
- To refuse to clear up accommodations in land use and zoning policies and procedures where such lodgings may be required to afford persons or groups of individuals with impairments an equal opportunity to use and take pleasure in housing. What constitutes an affordable accommodation is a case-by-case determination. Not all asked for modifications of rules or policies are reasonable. If a requested adjustment imposes an undue financial or administrative concern on a regional government, or if an adjustment develops an essential alteration in a regional federal government's land usage and zoning plan, it is not a "sensible" lodging.

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

The Fair Housing Act defines discrimination in housing against persons with impairments to include a failure "to design and build" certain brand-new multi-family dwellings so that they are accessible to and usable by individuals with impairments, and particularly individuals who utilize wheelchairs. The Act requires all freshly built multi-family homes of 4 or more units planned for first occupancy after March 13, 1991, to have particular functions: an available entryway on an accessible route, accessible common and public use locations, doors adequately large to accommodate wheelchairs, available routes into and through each home, light switches, electrical outlets, and thermostats in available location, reinforcements in restroom walls to accommodate grab bar setups, and usable bathroom and kitchens configured so that a wheelchair can steer about the space.

Developers, home builders, owners, and architects responsible for the design or construction of new multi-family housing may be held accountable under the Fair Housing Act if their structures stop working to meet these style requirements. The Department of Justice has brought numerous enforcement actions versus those who failed to do so. Most of the cases have been dealt with by consent decrees offering a variety of kinds of relief, including: retrofitting to bring unattainable features into compliance where possible and where it is not-- options (monetary funds or other building requirements) that will attend to making other housing units available; training on the ease of access requirements for those included in the building process; a required that all new housing jobs comply with the availability requirements, and monetary relief for those hurt by the infractions. In addition, the Department has actually looked for to promote availability through building regulations.