# Fair Housing Act *Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, a federal law prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing.* The Fair Housing Act is the name usually given to Titles VIII and IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (Pub. L. 90–284, 82 Stat. 73). It bars discrimination in selling, renting and financing housing.[^1] President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the act on April 11, 1968.[^2] The project's Minnesota Time Table records Title VIII as "Mondale's Fair Housing Act", attributing it to Walter Mondale.[^3] At the federal level, the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) enforces the act together with [[Title VI]].[^4] The act appears in the Minnesota record twice. First, the City of Saint Paul was the petitioner when the Supreme Court granted certiorari in *[[Magner v. Gallagher]]* on November 7, 2011. The question presented was whether disparate-impact claims are cognizable under the act.[^5] Second, the project's validated corpus lists a 1962 "Fair Housing Act predicate", attributed to Andersen, among the [[Minnesota]] instruments it records as carrying Republican signatures.[^6] A separate federal action against the State rests on a different statute, [[Title VII]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]]. On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*.[^7] The complaint in *[[United States v. State of Minnesota (0:26-cv-00273)]]* (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) cites [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] eight times.[^8] ## Background The Civil Rights Act of 1866 made people born in the United States citizens. As citizens they could rent, hold, sell and buy property. Refusing those rights to former slaves was punishable by a fine of $1,000 or up to one year in jail. However, the 1866 act contained no enforcement mechanism.[^9] Later statutes built the federal civil-rights apparatus. The Civil Rights Act of 1957 established the United States Commission on Civil Rights and the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The [[Civil Rights Act of 1960]] gave the Commission a longer life and a role in overseeing registration and voting.[^9] The 1964 act barred discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex and national origin. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 barred racial discrimination in voting. The 1966 Chicago Open Housing Movement is listed as a further impetus for the 1968 law.[^9] ## Summary of Titles ### Title I: Hate crimes Title I added 18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(2). The section allows federal prosecution of anyone who uses force to injure, intimidate or interfere with a person because of race, color, religion or national origin while that person is engaged in one of six federally protected activities. These activities include voting, attending school and serving as a state juror.[^10] Penalties are graded: - A fine, up to one year in prison, or both. - Up to 10 years where bodily injury results or firearms, explosives or fire are used. - Life imprisonment or the death penalty where the offense involves kidnapping, sexual assault or murder.[^10] ### Titles II–VII: Indian Civil Rights Act Titles II through VII form the Indian Civil Rights Act. It applies many, though not all, Bill of Rights guarantees within tribes. It is codified at 25 U.S.C. §§ 1301–1303.[^1] ### Titles VIII–IX: Fair Housing Act The 1866 act's housing guarantee had no federal enforcement; the 1968 act supplied federal remedies.[^1] Title VIII barred housing discrimination based on race, religion and national origin. Sex was added in 1974, and disability and familial status in 1988.[^1] ### Title X: Anti-Riot Act Title X, the Anti-Riot Act, makes it a felony to travel in interstate commerce with intent to incite or take part in a riot.[^1] ## Legislative history Johnson proposed a civil-rights bill in 1966, but the Senate did not pass it. On February 17, 1967, Representative Manny Celler introduced a new bill in the House, and Senator Philip A. Hart introduced it in the Senate.[^11] The House voted 327–92 on H.R. 2516 on August 16, 1967. That version contained no fair-housing language.[^11] By party, the vote was: - House Republican Conference: 161 yes, 25 no. - House Democratic Caucus: 166 yes, 67 no, with 1 voting present and 11 abstaining.[^11] In the Senate, the bill was amended to add what became the Fair Housing Act. Opponents filibustered. Three cloture motions, each needing a two-thirds vote, failed. Cloture carried 65–32 on the fourth attempt, March 4, 1968.[^12] The Senate passed H.R. 2516 on March 11, 1968, by 71–20.[^12] By party: - Senate Republicans: 29 yes, 3 no, 4 not voting. - Senate Democrats: 42 yes, 17 no, 5 not voting.[^12] ## Amendments Congress amended the act in 1988: - It extended coverage to people with disabilities and to families with children. - It allowed plaintiffs' attorneys to recover attorney's fees.[^13] Sex had been added as a protected basis in 1974.[^1] ## Case law In *Trouillon v. City of Hawthorne*, in the early 1990s, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund used the act to challenge an urban renewal plan on race-discrimination grounds, and succeeded. Earlier suits under the act had mostly concerned buying or renting housing. Judge Davis ruled for the plaintiffs but rejected the discrimination allegations. He rested the ruling partly on the city's failure to prove the area had more crime and lower property values than other parts of the city.[^14] Certiorari in *Magner v. Gallagher*, with the City of Saint Paul as petitioner, was granted on November 7, 2011.[^5] The record rows here do not state the case's disposition. In June 2019, a federal district court in California held the Anti-Riot Act "overbroad in violation of the First Amendment". The ruling came in the prosecution of Rise Above Movement members.[^15] ## Legacy April is observed as National Fair Housing Month, marking the month of the act's passage.[^16] The act now covers race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and disability. It applies to rental homes, apartments, condominiums and houses. The one exception is a small rental building whose owner lives in it.[^16] The number of discrimination cases is estimated differently by different bodies, as reported in the cached Wikipedia article (retrieved October 26, 2026): - HUD estimates about 2 million cases of housing discrimination a year. - The National Fair Housing Alliance puts the figure nearer 4 million, not counting disability or familial-status cases.[^16] Federal enforcement sits with HUD's Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity.[^4] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 1968 act.[^2] The project's Time Table attributes Title VIII to Walter Mondale.[^3] - The City of Saint Paul was the petitioner in *Magner v. Gallagher*.[^5] - The project's corpus attributes a 1962 "Fair Housing Act predicate" to Andersen and lists it among Republican-signed instruments.[^6] - Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified *United States v. State of Minnesota* as a case of general public importance.[^7] ### What - **The complaint and its statutory basis.** The complaint in No. 0:26-cv-00273 is brought under Title VII, not the Fair Housing Act. It cites Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times. Among the cited provisions is subd. 3(c), which requires an agency to explain why it hired a non-affirmative candidate.[^8] The record here does not state the case's current status. - **Ames.** In *[[Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services]]*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025), the Supreme Court held that Title VII's disparate-treatment provision "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs". The Court also rejected the Sixth Circuit's heightened "background circumstances" rule.[^17] ### When - 1962: Minnesota "Fair Housing Act predicate" (Andersen), per the project's corpus.[^6] - April 11, 1968: Civil Rights Act of 1968 signed.[^2] - November 7, 2011: certiorari granted in *Magner v. Gallagher*.[^5] - January 14, 2026: DOJ release No. 26-21 issued and complaint No. 0:26-cv-00273 filed.[^7][^8] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (rev. 1380659082, retrieved 2026-10-26), lead section — Pub. L. 90–284, 82 Stat. 73; titles of the 1968 act; the 1866 act's lack of federal enforcement; protected classes and the 1974 and 1988 additions; Indian Civil Rights Act codification; Anti-Riot Act. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^2]: National Archives, *Civil Rights Act of 1968* (milestone document) — the act signed by President Johnson on April 11, 1968. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act-of-1968 [^3]: Minnesota Time Table, row TL-0205 (1968, Apr. 11) — "LBJ signs Civil Rights Act of 1968; Title VIII = Mondale's Fair Housing Act." https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/civil-rights-act-of-1968 [^4]: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, *Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity* — federal Title VI and Fair Housing Act enforcement. https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp [^5]: Ramsey County complete history (companion table), row HE-0212 (Nov. 7, 2011) — certiorari granted in *Magner v. Gallagher* on the question "Are disparate impact claims cognizable under the Fair Housing Act?", with the City of Saint Paul as petitioner. No URL carried for this row. [^6]: *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18), text and note 16 (validated, marked primary-confirmed) — "Fair Housing Act predicate (1962, Andersen)" among dated Republican-signed instruments; sources given as revisor.mn.gov and session-law PDFs. No specific URL carried. [^7]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — the filing, and Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, *Complaint, United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026) — Title VII action citing Minn. Stat. § 43A.191 eight times, including subd. 3(c). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^9]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Background" — the 1866, 1957, 1960 and 1964 Civil Rights Acts; the Voting Rights Act of 1965; the 1966 Chicago Open Housing Movement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^10]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Summary of Titles" — Title I, 18 U.S.C. § 245(b)(2), and its penalties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^11]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Legislative history" — the 1966 proposal; the February 17, 1967 introduction; the August 16, 1967 House vote and caucus tallies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^12]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Legislative history" — Senate filibuster, the March 4, 1968 cloture vote, and the March 11, 1968 passage with caucus tallies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^13]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Amendments" — the 1988 amendments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^14]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Case law" — *Trouillon v. City of Hawthorne*. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^15]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Case law" — the June 2019 district-court ruling on the Anti-Riot Act. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^16]: Wikipedia, *Fair Housing Act* (retrieved 2026-10-26), "Legacy" — National Fair Housing Month; current protected classes and the owner-occupant exception; HUD and National Fair Housing Alliance estimates. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Housing_Act [^17]: Supreme Court of the United States, *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (2025) — Title VII disparate-treatment holding; the "background circumstances" rule rejected. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf