The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a landmark decision in a
case addressing the liability of housing providers under the Fair
Housing Act (FHA). The FHA prohibits discriminatory housing
decisions based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex,
disability or family status. Combined with some news out of the
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the
Court's ruling puts real estate owners, developers and property
management companies at greater risk of litigation over housing
discrimination.
The Supreme Court Case
The case involved low-income housing tax credits distributed by
a Texas governmental agency. A not-for-profit organization that
assists low-income families in obtaining affordable housing sued
the agency for "disparate impact" discrimination under
the FHA. The not-for-profit alleged that the agency had caused
continued segregated housing patterns by allocating too many tax
credits to housing in predominantly black, inner-city
