Cases and Settlements

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The Justice Department recently sued a public housing agency that administers the Section 8 voucher program in North Carolina, along with two of its employees, for sexual harassment in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

In early December, the federal court in Michigan ruled a federally assisted housing community was not required to allow use of medical marijuana as a reasonable accommodation under fair housing law.

In early 2013, the resident signed a lease for a townhome in a project-based, Section 8, federally assisted housing community operated by a property management company. The lease documents indicated that the management company “may” terminate the agreement for several reasons, including drug-related activity or criminal activity.

HUD recently ordered a condominium association in Puerto Rico to pay $20,000 in damages plus a $16,000 civil penalty for refusing to allow a resident with disabilities to keep his emotional support animal.

On Nov. 3, the U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia filed an opinion vacating HUD's final rule on Implementation of the Fair Housing Act’s Discriminatory Effects Standard, commonly referred to as the Disparate Impact Rule. HUD had recently finalized regulations that were intended to codify how a disparate impact claim is established, including the respective burdens that the plaintiffs and defendants must carry.

HUD recently announced settlements with two communities—and charges against two others—for alleged discrimination against residents with disabilities. The announcement follows the release of HUD’s latest fair housing report, which shows that more than half of the discrimination complaints filed with HUD in 2013 were based on disability.

Earlier this month, the Justice Department sued a West Virginia community, alleging that a maintenance worker and a manager sexually harassed female residents, and that the community’s site manager failed to take appropriate steps when residents complained about the harassment.

The owner and operator of a 500-unit HUD-subsidized apartment complex in Illinois recently agreed to pay $255,000 to settle allegations of disability discrimination and retaliation, according to a recent announcement by HUD.

HUD recently announced action in two fair housing cases against communities for allegedly enforcing overly restrictive rules on children playing outside. In one case, HUD claimed that children were forced to clean the manager’s office toilet when they were found outside unaccompanied by an adult.

For the third time in recent years, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether the Fair Housing Act bans discrimination based on disparate impact—that is, practices that have a discriminatory effect on members of a protected class, even if there’s no intentional discrimination. Twice before, the Court agreed to decide on the issue, but the cases were settled before it had a chance to issue a ruling.

The owners and operators of a Michigan community recently agreed to pay $550,000 and to terminate its property manager to settle a lawsuit for sexual harassment in violation of fair housing law.

The Justice Department filed the complaint, accusing the former manager of sexually harassing female residents at the community he managed. The lawsuit included the owners of the complex and claimed that they were liable for his actions.