What You Can Do

Record the details of what happened to you, including dates, times, people involved, as well as possible witnesses, including their phone numbers and addresses. Keep a running log of everything that has happened, especially if this is an ongoing situation. Keep a file of documents that pertain to your cases.

Call the Fair Housing Center Hotline at 1-866-226-0068. We can assess your case and advise you on how to proceed.

When housing discrimination occurs, complaints can be filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and/or in state or federal court or with a state or city human rights office. In some cases, the Fair Housing Center is able to negotiate with housing providers to remedy violations.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations for fair housing complaints provides that "[a]n aggrieved person may commence civil action in an appropriate United States district court or State court not later than two years after the occurrence or the termination of an alleged discriminatory housing practice." However, the statute of limitations is suspended during the period of time during which HUD has and is evaluating a complaint. The time HUD has the case does not count when calculating when the two-year statute of limitations expires.

If a person has been subject to ongoing discrimination (i.e. continuous discrimination or a number of incidents of discrimination that are factually related), then the two-year time period begins to run after the last incident or when the continuous discrimination ended.

The statute of limitations for filing a complaint with HUD is one year.

The HUD Process

Once a complaint is filed, HUD will investigate the complaint. If HUD does find reasonable cause that a violation of the Fair Housing Act occurred, it will set a date for an administrative hearing before a HUD Administrative Law Judge. HUD legal staff, representing the government, will try the case on behalf of the complainant, but the complainant can obtain separate representation and intervene in the case.

However, either the complainant or the respondent can elect to have the case tried in federal court instead of a HUD administrative proceeding. In that event, the Department of Justice will represent the government on behalf of the complainant, and, once again, the complainant can obtain separate representation and intervene in the case.

The Department of Justice can directly file a lawsuit in federal court against the respondent if it has reasonable cause to believe that the respondent has engaged in a pattern or practice of housing discrimination. In other words, if the complainant or his or her representative has evidence that a landlord, realtor, mortgage broker, etc., has engaged or is engaging in widespread discrimination, the complainant can go directly to the Department of Justice and ask the Department to investigate for a possible determination of a pattern or practice of discrimination.