Fair Housing / Lending News

Safe Haven Sober Houses v. City of Boston , 517 F.Supp.2d 557 (D.Mass. 2007). When Boston brought criminal proceedings against the owners and operators of homes for recovering alcoholics and drug users, those Defendants filed a preliminary injunction to stay the state criminal court proceedings. The Defendants argued that the court should analyze the motion under the traditional four-part test 1) likelihood of success on the merits 2) irreparable harm 3) balancing of the equities, and 4) the effect on the public interest of either the granting or denial of the injunction. The court analyzed the case under the Younger doctrine which prohibits a federal court from intervening in a state court criminal proceeding except under the following unusual circumstances: 1) "a statute that is 'flagrantly and patently violative of express constitutional prohibitions in every clause, sentence and paragraph, and in whatever manner and against whomever an effort might be made to apply it...

Boston Housing Authority v. Bridgewaters , 2009 WL 26765 (Mass.) Defendant was a mentally disabled man living with his brother in an apartment under the Boston Housing authority. He was not on his medication for manic depression and was transitioning between doctors when he assaulted his brother. The housing authority brought eviction proceedings. BHA got judgment for possession of the apartment. Court vacates and remands. Under 3604(f)(3)(B) discrimination includes "a refusal to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services." The court found that the Defendant made a request when he expressed a desire to continue his tenancy and that there were no "magic words" required in making this request. Further, the BHA had to accept that his disability caused the violence if they were unable to prove otherwise.

Sierra v. City of New York , 579 F.Supp.2d 543 (N.D.N.Y, 2008) Plaintiff, mother of two children, challenged the constitutionality of a NYC Housing Maintenance Code. She brought suit under 3604(a) claiming that the law which forbids children from living in SRO’s is facially discriminatory on the basis of family status. She sought to have the ordinance declared invalid and to enjoin its future enforcement. The court held that the city code did not violate the FHA because it furthered legitimate state interests in “health, safety and welfare of children that cannot be achieved through other alternatives” at 554. The court agreed that SROs are unsafe for children because occupants of several units share bathroom and kitchen facilities. The defendant offered “extensive evidence demonstrating concrete physical and psychological effects of SRO living on children, rather than merely generalizations and conclusory assertions.” at 551.

Hoffman v. Option One Mortgage Corp. & H & R Block Mortgage Corp. , 589 F.Supp. 2d 1009 (N.D.Ill. 2008). Plaintiff may assert a disparate impact claim on the basis of discretionary pricing. Under these financing practices, minority buyers are substantially more likely to be charged more in discretionary fees than are white buyers, even when controlling for risk-related factors. Defendants' motion to dismiss denied.

http://www.pili-law.org/AlumniSpotlights.htm#lopez The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued its ruling that St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and a prior consent decree of the court in enacting a moratorium on apartment development in response to a developer proposing low income housing tax credit multifamily housing complexes in St. Bernard. The ruling points out that the moratorium was passed with the intent of, and had the effect of, discriminating against potential minority residents of St. Bernard, which is only 7.6 percent African-American as opposed to neighboring Orleans Parish, which is 67.3 percent African-American. http://www.munsch.com/lists/lt.php?id=MB8GUFRTU1dEUAEHSggDUVZR

In Ortega v. Housing Authority of the City of Brownsville , 572 F.Supp.2d 829, (S.D. Tex. 2008) the Plaintiff's application for a housing voucher expired when he was unable to prove legal guardianship of his grandson. The Plaintiff alleged discrimination based on familial status in violation of 42 U.S.C. Sec. 3602(k). This section defines "familial status" as "one or more individuals...being domiciled with (1) a parent or another person having legal custody of such individual or individuals; or (2) the designee or such parent or other person having such custody, with the written permission of such parent or other person. The court had to decide whether the two year limitations period began to run on July 19, 2004 when the housing voucher was issued by the agency or whether it began to run on December 21, 2004 when the agency issued a letter to inform the Plaintiff that the voucher had expired and his application was canceled. The Plaintiff filed suit in December o...

In Taylor v. Accredited Home Lenders , 580 F.Supp.2d 1062 (S.D. Cal. 2008) the Plaintiffs alleged a facially neutral "discretionary pricing policy" had a disparate impact on African American borrowers. At issue was whether the injury suffered was the result of a single incident violation which would have placed the Plaintiff's complaint beyond the two year statute of limitations or whether the injury was the result of a continuing violation. 42 U.S.C. Sec.3613(1)A) requires that actions must be commenced "no later than 2 years after the occurrence or the termination of an alleged discriminatory housing practice." The court agreed with the Plaintiffs and held that the issuance of each mortgage statement containing the inflated amount due constituted a new violation and that each payment of that inflated figure was a new violation. The court rejected the defendant's single incident theory that "the violation occurred and terminated when the loan closed....

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