The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based upon religion. Some of the Department's cases have also alleged that municipalities and other local government entities violated the Fair Housing Act when they denied permits or zoning changes for housing developments, or relegated them to predominantly minority neighborhoods, because the prospective residents were expected to be predominantly African-Americans.ĭiscrimination in Housing Based Upon Religion Most 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. In addition, the Department's Fair Housing Testing Program seeks to uncover this kind of hidden discrimination and hold those responsible accountable. The Department of Justice has brought many cases alleging this kind of discrimination based on race or color. Individuals who receive such false information or misdirection may have no knowledge that they have been victims of discrimination. Sometimes, housing providers try to disguise their discrimination by giving false information about availability of housing, either saying that nothing was available or steering homeseekers to certain areas based on race. The majority of the Justice Department's pattern or practice cases involve claims of race discrimination. Nevertheless, more than 30 years later, race discrimination in housing continues to be a problem. One of the central objectives of the Fair Housing Act, when Congress enacted it in 1968, was to prohibit race discrimination in sales and rentals of housing. The Department of Justice brings suits on behalf of individuals based on referrals from HUD.ĭiscrimination in Housing Based Upon Race or Color Individuals who believe that they have been victims of an illegal housing practice, may file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development or file their own lawsuit in federal or state court. The Fair Housing Act also provides procedures for handling individual complaints of discrimination. Where force or threat of force is used to deny or interfere with fair housing rights, the Department of Justice may institute criminal proceedings. The Department brings cases where there is evidence of a pattern or practice of discrimination or where a denial of rights to a group of persons raises an issue of general public importance. In cases involving discrimination in mortgage loans or home improvement loans, the Department may file suit under both the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act. 3601 et seq., prohibits discrimination by direct providers of housing, such as landlords and real estate companies as well as other entities, such as municipalities, banks or other lending institutions and homeowners insurance companies whose discriminatory practices make housing unavailable to persons because of:
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