Fair Housing Act

Passed in 1968, the Fair Housing Act prohibits housing discrimination based on race or color, sex, religion, national origin, family status or disability.

The Fair Housing Act of 1968 followed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 which outlawed discrimination and segregation in employment, schools and public places and voting.

The Act prohibits landlords, real estate companies, banks, municipalities, lending institutions, homeowners and insurance companies from implementing discriminatory practices make housing unavailable to persons because of race or color, sex, religion, national origin, family status or disability. 1

The Three main parts: 2

• Renting Homes
  • Refusing to rent housing, sell rental housing, or negotiate for housing
  • Making housing unavailable, including lying about the availability of housing
  • Establishing different terms or conditions in the selling or renting of rental housing
  • Providing different housing accommodations or amenities
  • Convincing property owners to sell cheaply out of the fear of racial, religious, or other minorities moving into the neighborhood
  • Refusing to make or purchase a mortgage loan
  • Setting different terms or conditions on the loan(such as interest rates or fees)
  • Setting different requirements for purchasing a loan
  • Refusing to make information about the loan available
  • Using discriminatory practices in property appraising
  • Making discriminatory statements in home advertising
  • Interfering or threatening to interfere with any of the rights above

  A few historical policies that discriminated by race or other category included in the Fair Housing Act of 1968:

  • Redlining
    • refusing a mortgage loan or insurance to someone because the neighborhood they live in is deemed to be a poor financial risk. Historically disproportionately affected low-income and minority neighborhoods.
    • For more on redlining, see the University of Richmond’s Relining Report.
    • Contractual agreements that prohibit the purchase, lease, or occupation of a piece of property by a particular racial group.
    • For more information on the history of restrictive housing covenants, see this map about racial segregation in Washington, D.C. For more on Seattle’s history with covenants, see here why private covenants were not banned from racial restrictions until the passing of the Fair Housing Act.

    The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has two different enforcement mechanisms:

    1. Fair Housing Testers:
       • HUD hires people to pose as renters or home buyers to see if discriminatory practices are being used by landlord or mortgage lenders. 2
    2. Investigate Discrimination Claims:
       • Individuals can file a discrimination claim with HUD if they feel their fair housing rights have been violated in some way . The claim will then be investigated to determine if the claim has merit and whether further action should be taken.

    For the full text of the bill, see here.

    Endnotes