U.S. Supreme Court Recognizes Disparate Impact in Fair Housing

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the hotly anticipated disparate impact case Texas Housing Authority v. The Inclusive Communities Project Inc. The Court released a 5-4 opinion to uphold disparate impact liability, meaning the court decided that business owners may be unintentionally creating environments of discrimination with regard to fair housing, even though they have been following federal fair housing law. 

Disparate impact focuses on the notion that a business can unintentionally discriminate against a protected class, such as people of a certain race, gender, or age, even when these businesses are acting within the law. The concept comes into play if the result of the business’s practices is that a certain group of people is affected to a substantially greater degree than other groups. Two previous disparate impact cases had been brought before federal court, but both cases were settled before an opinion was released. This lack of previous judicial precedence makes the recent Supreme Court ruling very important, and it will most likely set the stage for how future cases regarding disparate impact may be handled in court. 

The Supreme Court’s acknowledgment of disparate impact may create new legal challenges for those developing and managing multifamily properties across the country.  FAA is working closely with NAA to analyze the Supreme Court decision and FAA will continue to update its members on the impact of the bill in Florida.