Fair Housing for All

Advocates differ on the most effective ways to defend and strengthen the Fair Housing Act, with some looking to regulatory action, others looking to make changes at the state and local level, and still others arguing that now (or soon) is the time to try to make changes in the Fair Housing Act itself.

Fair Housing for All has not taken a position yet on whether we should be moving in the direction of seeking a Fair Housing Restoration Act. What we do believe is that we need to have a very different kind of discussion about the pros and cons that has been had in recent memory.

Part I

Identifying in a comprehensive way the legislative fixes and improvements that would make the Act a more effective tool by which to achieve fair housing. These might include:

• eliminating the restrictive definition of disability
• adopting an explicit mixed-motive standard
• rejecting the idea (set forth in Garcia) that the statute of limitations can run out on design and construction violations before those violations are cure
• rejecting stray cases (like Halprin) that suggest that some provisions of the Fair Housing Act do not cover post-acquisition harassment.
• including protection against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation
• clarifying that the immunity provisions of the Communications Decency Act are not intended to supercede Fair Housing Act coverage.
• including protection on the basis of lawful source of income

Undoubtedly, there are many other possibilities. We need to gather a more robust list by the end of February, 2009. Please use the form on the right to make suggestions (and to tweak and critique the possibilities mentioned above).

Part II

As we gather and modify this list, we have to step back from the assumptions we have previously made about the advisability of "tampering" with the Fair Housing Act, and consider the potential risks and rewards of acting (or of failing to act) with reference to current facts on the ground. We will also be starting a process of reaching out as broadly as possible to other organizations, advocates, political leaders, and the people in whose service an effective Fair Housing Act is supposed to operate. As one of Fair Housing for All's principles states: "we have at least as much to learn as we may have to teach."