The
Fair Housing Act was enacted by the United States Congress
in 1968 has been set in place to prohibit discrimination by
direct providers of housing. Under this act, the Department
of Justice can bring lawsuits if they have a reason to believe
that a party is engaged in practices demonstrating discrimination
and or denial of rights. The act provides procedures for handling
both individual complaints or for a group of people.
Impacted Parties
The act allows cases to be filed against the direct providers of housing and or facilities of any kind. Impacted parties may include: landlords, real estate companies, developers and in some cases municipalities, homeowner’s insurance companies, banks and other lending institutions, if they are acting as a landlord or owner of a home or office building.
Criteria for Discrimination
If you feel that you have been discriminated from housing, mortgage loans or home improvement loans based on the criteria of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability, you can utilize the benefits of this act. Of these, race discrimination continues to be a major problem. However in certain cases, the act does contain limited exceptions – this can be seen in cases of discrimination against religion, where the government allows non-commercial housing operated by a religious organization to reserve such housing to persons of the same religion.
Legal Procedure
Individuals, who feel they have been victims to illegal housing practices, should file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and/or hire a law firm to assist you with filing a lawsuit in your state or federal court.