Administrative Estoppel and the Fair Housing Act
Mark C. Fang and Jay C. Carlisle II write that the treatment of the preclusive effect of administrative determinations taken by the Southern District in 'U.S. v. East River Housing' deserves close attention in light of the Supreme Court's broad interpretation of the scope and nature of the Fair Housing Act earlier this year, possibly pointing the way to a new result on an unsettled issue of significant bearing on the procedural course of FHA discrimination claims in New York.
December 09, 2015 at 07:44 PM
15 minute read
This has been a landmark year in the history of Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 known as the Fair Housing Act (FHA), one of the original statutes to emerge from the civil rights movement. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Texas v. Inclusive Communities, 576 U.S. __ (2015), holding that disparate impact discrimination claims are cognizable under the FHA; race-neutral policies and practices that disparately impact housing opportunities or otherwise perpetuate segregation because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status can be challenged under the FHA.
Beyond the disparate impact holding, the majority opinion in Inclusive Communities articulated a strikingly robust view of the FHA in the nation's enduring efforts to achieve racial progress: “The FHA must play an important part in avoiding the Kerner Commission's grim prophecy that 'our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.'[1] The court acknowledges the FHA's continuing role in moving the Nation toward a more integrated society.” Inclusive Communities is the Supreme Court's first FHA case since Meyer v. Holley, 538 U.S. 188 (2003) (holding FHA imposes liability without fault upon officer or owner of a residential real estate corporation for the unlawful activity of the corporation's employee or agent in accordance with traditional agency principles); future FHA issues will now be looked through the prism of Inclusive Communities.
With Inclusive Communities making such a strong articulation of the FHA, its purpose, scope and structure, we may expect Inclusive Communities to be invoked in future cases involving other unresolved interpretations of the FHA. One such issue is whether the unreviewed administrative determination of an agency charged with enforcing anti-discrimination laws can have preclusive effect over an FHA civil action in federal court.
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Trending Stories
- 1Ex-Prosecutor and Judge Fatally Shot During Attempted Arrest on Federal Corruption Charges
- 2'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
- 3The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 4NYC Mayor Eric Adams Indicted on Public Corruption Allegations
- 5What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers