LANDLORD CAN BE LIABLE TO A TENANT FOR FAILURE TO ACT UPON RACIAL INCIDENTS OF ANOTHER TENANT UNDER FAIR HOUSING ACT

In this case, the tenant's next door neighbor began "what can only be described as a brazen and relentless campaign of racial harassment, abuse, and threats."

Francis v. Kings Park Manor, Inc., Civ. 15-1823, Decided March 4, 2019 (US Court of Appeals, Second Circuit):

"Just over fifty years ago, spurred by the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Congress enacted Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, commonly referred to as the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (“FHA” or “Act”), 42 U.S.C. § 3601 et seq., a landmark piece of civil rights legislation that accompanied the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The main question before us is whether a landlord may be liable under the FHA for failing to take prompt action to address a racially hostile housing environment created by one tenant targeting another, where the landlord knew of the discriminatory conduct and had the power to correct it. In holding that a landlord may be liable in those limited circumstances, we adhere to the FHA’s broad language and remedial scope and agree with the views of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), the agency tasked with administering the FHA. "