Under the Fair Housing Act, The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) may file a lawsuit against a defendant who is alleged to have been involved in a practice of discrimination or has discriminated against a set of people in a way that an issue of “general public importance” is raised.\u00a0<\/p>

Courts said that the U.S. attorney general will decide what is a matter of “general public importance.\u201d<\/p>

The Justice Department can file suit under the Fair Housing Act if it involves discrimination in mortgage loans or home improvement loans, if they identified a pattern of discrimination or when a denial of rights to a group led to an issue of general public importance.\u00a0<\/p>

The Department Of Justice can also institute criminal charges if force or threat of force is used to discriminate.<\/p>

People can also file discrimination complaints with HUD, or lawsuits can be filed in federal or state court. On behalf of individuals, the DOJ files lawsuits based on referrals from HUD.<\/p>

If somebody files a complaint with HUD, the agency is supposed to investigate in a timely manner.\u00a0<\/p>

If the complaint can’t be resolved peacefully, then HUD has to decide if there’s reasonable cause to believe federal laws were violated. And if reasonable cause is identified by HUD, it prepares a Charge of Discrimination.\u00a0<\/p>

Then in 30 days, either the person alleging the discrimination or the respondent can have the charge tried in federal court or in a HUD administrative law court.<\/p>

Both the courts can order injunctive relief and issue written opinions, then according to the DOJ, any appeals of the decision can be made to the U.S. Court of Appeals.<\/p>

Unless it is observable and obvious, proving housing discrimination, can be difficult and that requires collecting good evidence in the form of written records and documents say the Housing and civil rights attorneys.\u00a0<\/p>

So individuals who feel that they have been a victim of discrimination can contact their local fair housing center or an attorney for guidance.<\/p>

Additional fair housing protections that go beyond federal laws are provided by some states and local jurisdictions.\u00a0<\/p>

For example, Along with all the protections of the federal Fair Housing Act, New York State Human Rights Law provides, and also affords protection against discrimination on the basis of creed, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, age, and or lawful source of income.<\/p>

Across the United States have similar laws by other states and localities also.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t