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There’s an update to a case we reported in the November 2011 issue of Fair Housing Coach: A federal appeals court has dismissed a fair housing case filed against an online roommate-matching service, Roommates.com, ruling that the Fair Housing Act (FHA) does not apply to shared living arrangements.

The owner of a Pennsylvania apartment complex recently agreed to pay $15,000 to settle claims that the development’s on-site manager discriminated against families with children. Last summer, HUD charged the owner and manager with charging families higher rent when they have children and indicating a preference against families with children. Under federal fair housing law, it is unlawful to impose different rental charges and terms of a lease on households becaus...

In honor of Fair Housing Month, the April 2012 Fair Housing Coach tackles some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) about fair housing law in conventional multifamily housing communities. Here are seven of the 17 FAQs from the April issue, available on our homepage:

Last month, the Justice Department announced a $20,000 consent decree that resolves a lawsuit alleging that a Utah condominium association and its management company violated federal fair housing law by refusing to grant a resident’s request for a reasonable accommodation.

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.