Fair Housing Discrimination: 4 Potential Tripwires for You and Your Clients
In January 2021, a federal district court declined to dismiss an HOA and its management company from a lawsuit alleging liability for an owner’s harassment of another resident under the federal Fair Housing Act and the Indiana Fair Housing Act.
The Indiana case involves what the court called an owner’s “race-based campaign of harassing, taunting, and threatening African American and Latino residents, guests, and contractors,” leading to the creation of a racially hostile environment at the HOA. It demonstrates one of today’s biggest, and still evolving, fair housing risks — liability for neighbor-to-neighbor harassment.
In this special report, we explore the latest developments in this and three other particularly high-risk areas. In addition to liability for neighbor-to-neighbor harassment, we dig into liability issues that can arise related to the handling of requests for reasonable accommodations, familial discrimination, and the lack of sensitivity to shifting norms. And we provide fresh advice for heading off liability in a time when discrimination of all kinds is at the forefront of discussion.
It’s up to managers to stay abreast of the issues and share their knowledge with their clients. We hope this report helps.
Table of Contents
- A Message from the President
- Reasonable Accommodation Requests
- Familial Discrimination
- Neighbor-to-Neighbor Disputes
- Lack of Sensitivity