Who Can Sue Under the Fair Housing Act

Abstract

The 1968 Fair Housing Act passage swept in an era of broad enforcement rights for those harmed by discriminatory housing practices. The Act has consistently been used by many types of plaintiffs to receive compensation for the harms, serving as a strong incentive for housing providers to follow the law. Recently there has been an uptick in cases questioning what types of plaintiffs the Fair Housing Act gives a cause of action culminating in a certiorari grant in Wells Fargo & Co. v. City of Miami, No. 15-1112. The case will be heard in October Term 2016 by the Supreme Court. This article proceeds by first detailing the animating forces behind the Act before turning to Supreme Court FHA statutory interpretation jurisprudence. Drawing from recent Supreme Court “zone of interest” statutory interpretation cases, the paper argues that all statutory interpretation roads lead to the same answer: those harmed by a discriminatory housing practice are granted a cause of action under the Act.