In the United States, the phrase fair housing dates back to the 1960s. It refers to a political movement of the time to outlaw discrimination in the rental or purchase of homes and a broad range of other housing-related transactions, such as advertising, mortgage lending, homeowner's insurance and zoning. At the urging of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, Congress passed the federal Fair Housing Act in April 1968 only one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr..
When the Fair Housing Act first passed, it prohibited discrimination only on the basis of race, color, religion and national origin. In 1974, sex was added to the list of protected classes, and in 1988, disability and familial status (the presence or anticipated presence of children under 18 in a household) were added.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development is the cabinet agency with the statutory authority to enforce the Fair Housing Act administratively. Individuals who believe they have experienced housing discrimination can file a complaint with HUD at no charge. HUD has working agreements with many state and local governmental agencies where "substantially equivalent" fair housing laws are in place; under these agreements, HUD refers complaints to the state or locality where the alleged incident occurred, and those agencies investigate and process the case.
There is also a network of private, non-profit fair housing advocacy organizations throughout the country. Some are funded by HUD's Fair Housing Initiatives Program, and some operate with private donations or grants from other sources.
Victims of housing discrimination need not go through HUD or any other governmental agency to pursue their rights, however. The Fair Housing Act confers jurisdiction to hear cases on federal district courts. The United States Department of Justice also has jurisdiction to file cases on behalf of the United States where there is a pattern and practice of discrimination or where HUD has found discrimination in a case and either party elects to go to federal court instead of continuing in the HUD administrative process.
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