Fair Housing Act

Congress passed the Fair Housing Act as Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and President Lyndon Johnson signed it on April 11, 1968, a week after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed. It bans discrimination in selling, renting, advertising, and financing housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, and sex. The 1988 amendments added disability and familial status, protecting families with children, and gave the law stronger enforcement.

People who believe they faced housing discrimination can file a complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which investigates and refers cases, often through state and local agencies, or sue in court. The Justice Department brings cases involving patterns of discrimination. The law covers practices such as steering buyers to certain neighborhoods, refusing reasonable accommodations for tenants with disabilities, and lending discrimination, though small owner-occupied buildings are exempt.

In Texas Department of Housing v. Inclusive Communities Project in 2015 the Supreme Court held that the law allows disparate impact claims, challenging policies with unjustified discriminatory effects even without intent. In 2025 HUD moved to roll back its disparate impact rule and ended a rule requiring local governments to affirmatively further fair housing, and cut funding for some private fair housing groups. Supporters of the changes say they end burdensome federal mandates, while civil rights groups say they weaken enforcement in a market where segregation persists.