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The U.S. Supreme Court will not review a controversial fair housing case after all. The case, highlighted in the January 2012 Fair Housing Coach, centered on disparate impact claims under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). While everyone agrees that the FHA bans intentional discrimination, the issue was whether the FHA also bans policies, which are not intentionally discriminatory, but have a disparate impact—that is, an unfair negative effect—on raci...

A company that owns and operates multifamily rental housing in Evanston, Ill., has backed away from plans to limit occupancy in one of its buildings to only Northwestern University students, according to the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs, an advocacy group that filed a federal fair housing case protesting the policy.

Last fall, the Justice Department issued new ADA rules that take full effect on March 15, 2012. Among other things, the new rules adopt scoping provisions establishing accessible design standards, including standards on making swimming pools, exercise clubs, and other recreation facilities accessible for individuals with disabilities.

In our March 2012 lesson, Fair Housing Coach explains how to meet the disability-related needs of individuals with mobility impairments under fair housing law. Communities should expect increased demand to meet those requirements with the influx of returning veterans—many with service-related disabilities—as well as the predicted increase in age-related disabilities of baby boomers and their parents.

HUD recently announced new regulations intended to ensure that HUD's core housing programs are open to all eligible persons, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. The new regulations, published as a final rule in theFederal Register this week, will go into effect in 30 days.

The Center for Housing Leadership at Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia, Inc. (HOME) recently released the 2011 Virginia Housing Statistics Snapshot, an annual report on the housing market in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Authored by Brian Koziol, HOME’s Housing Policy & Research Analyst, the report compiles important housing data on affordability, home ownership, income, mortgage lending, foreclosures, and housing discrimination in Virginia.

A resident in a senior living community had multiple sclerosis and used an electric wheelchair. The community claimed that, throughout her tenancy, she routinely operated the wheelchair at excessive speeds and without adequate control. Allegedly, she damaged the walls and front door to her unit and hurt two people with her electric wheelchair—once by driving over a staff member’s foot and then running into a dining room table, causing hot coffee to spill on ...

In the February lesson, Fair Housing Coach examines the fair housing implications of the latest trend: the rapid increase in multigenerational living arrangements.

A South Jersey condo association recently settled allegations that it unlawfully discriminated against a resident with a disability by failing to accommodate her disability, announced the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights.

The long-term resident had a debilitating lung illness and had a Permanent Disabled Parking Permit issued by the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. She generally parked in a “handicapped” parking space close to her unit in the re...