A number of federal statutes prohibit housing discrimination, but the Act is the most comprehensive. This report focuses on enforcement of fair housing rights under the Act, which is one of the federal government’s central tools for fighting discrimination in housing. The Act (as amended) prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, handicap, and familial status. The Act applies to certain issues, including discrimination in the sale, rental, or advertising or financing of housing, the provision of brokerage services; and other activities related to residential real estate transactions. The Act covers all “dwellings,” which are defined generally as buildings designed to be used in whole or part for a residence, as well as vacant land offered for sale and lease for constructing or locating a building, with some exceptions. The enforcement process granted to HUD and others under the Act has been expanded since the law’s enactment in 1968. The original Act gave no enforcement powers to HUD—other than the ability to investigate and conciliate complaints—and gave limited enforcement powers to private persons and the Attorney General. Under the 1968 Act, private persons who believed they had been discriminated against in housing could enforce the Act by filing a complaint with HUD, and HUD could investigate and conciliate those complaints. The 1968 Act had no mechanism for HUD to adjudicate complaints, so HUD had no options for further enforcement if conciliation efforts failed. The 1968 Act also authorized aggrieved persons to bring a civil action within 180 days of the date of the alleged discrimination. The relief that courts could provide in such cases included only injunctive relief, actual damages, punitive damages up to $1,000, and, where the plaintiff was not able to pay his or her own attorneys’ fees, those fees. Under the 1968 Act, the Attorney General could initiate a civil suit under some circumstances—for example, when there was reasonable cause to believe that a “pattern or practice” of resistance had emerged to the provisions of the Act. The Attorney General could also bring a suit if a group of persons had been denied a right granted by the Act that raised an issue considered to be of general public importance. However, damage awards were not available in actions brought in these types of cases. The 1988 amendments to the Act provided HUD, private persons, and the Attorney General with more tools and remedies for enforcement. Currently, under the Act as amended, there is an adjudication mechanism, so HUD’s enforcement efforts need not end if conciliation efforts do not succeed. Additionally, aggrieved parties can elect not to utilize the administrative enforcement process and can file civil actions in federal court within 2 years of the alleged discrimination; and the Act provides for actual and punitive damages without limitation and for injunctive relief and attorneys’ fees. As under the original 1968 Act, presently the Attorney General can bring a civil action in pattern or practice cases or cases of public importance. The 1988 amendments allow the Attorney General to commence civil actions in cases of breached conciliation agreements or discriminatory housing practices referred by HUD and to enforce subpoenas. In cases commenced by the Attorney General, courts can award civil penalties up to $100,000 for the second violation, in addition to compensatory monetary damages and attorneys’ fees. The 1988 Act also created a deadline of 100 days for HUD’s investigation and reasonable cause determination. FHEO directs HUD’s enforcement efforts, although some state and local FHAP agencies handle most enforcement efforts for their states and localities. FHEO refers complaints alleging violations of state and local fair housing laws that are administered by a certified FHAP to that agency. A certified agency that has entered into a memorandum of understanding with FHEO is eligible to participate in the Fair Housing Assistance program. Under this program, FHAP agencies receive funding for fair housing activities and must conform to reporting and record maintenance requirements, agree to on-site technical assistance, and agree to implement policies and procedures provided to the agencies by FHEO. FHEO has staff in each of HUD’s 10 regional offices, called “hubs,” through which it conducts its enforcement efforts. FHEO staff has responsibility for the intake, investigation, and resolution of some of these complaints. Aggrieved persons may also go directly to FHAP agencies, which then perform the intake process. However, FHEO must ultimately approve the filing of all complaints involving alleged violations of the Act. If an aggrieved party contacts a FHEO office regarding discrimination that allegedly occurred in a state or locality that has a FHEO-certified “substantially equivalent” state or local agency (that is, a FHAP agency), FHEO will complete the intake process and refer the complaint to that agency for enforcement. Under the Act and HUD’s implementing regulations, FHEO can certify an agency if (1) the rights and remedies available under the state or local laws are substantially equivalent to those available under the Act, and (2) the operation of the agency demonstrates that it meets performance standards for timely and thorough fair housing complaint investigations, conciliation, and enforcement. The local law must require the agency to meet the 100- day investigation benchmark contained in the Act. Although the FHAP agency enforcement process must be substantially similar to the HUD process, it need not be exactly the same. That is, FHAP agencies review incoming complaints to determine if they allege a violation of their state or local fair housing laws, the Act, or both; investigate complaints to determine if fair housing laws have been violated; and provide for the final adjudication of complaints, but each of the 100 FHAP agencies can take different actions to accomplish these tasks. These certified state and local agencies could be civil rights agencies like the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. FHEO field offices monitor the FHAP agencies, review cases FHAP agencies investigate to determine if the agencies are eligible for payment under FHAP, and provide technical assistance. FHEO field offices also have responsibility for other functions, such as assessing compliance with fair housing regulations for entities receiving federal funds, providing community education and outreach efforts for fair housing issues, and managing grants under the Fair Housing Initiatives Program, which funds public and private entities combating discriminatory housing practices. FHEO tracks fair housing enforcement efforts through its Title Eight Automated Paperless Office Tracking System (TEAPOTS) database. FHEO enforcement personnel input information at major stages of the enforcement process, such as when a complaint is filed at FHEO, when an investigation of a complaint begins, and when a case is resolved. FHEO managers use TEAPOTS to track the progress of fair housing cases and enforcement efforts. All FHAPs have access to TEAPOTS and are required to report their performance information (such as timeliness milestones for initiated and completed investigations) into TEAPOTS or other data and information systems technology agreed to by HUD. TEAPOTS captures numerous aspects of enforcement efforts both nationally and by hub, including the numbers and lengths of enforcement actions; characteristics of complaints, such as basis of discrimination (race, religion, etc.) and subject matter of discrimination (sale, rental, etc. ); and type of resolution. The fair housing enforcement process consists of three stages: (1) intake, during which FHEO or FHAP agencies receive inquiries from individuals with housing discrimination concerns and determine whether those concerns involve a potential violation of the Act; (2) investigation, during which FHEO or FHAP agency investigators collect evidence to determine if reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice has occurred or is about to occur; and (3) adjudication, during which an independent fact finder determines whether the person charged with discrimination (the respondent) did in fact violate the Act. The independent fact-finding may occur before an administrative law judge (ALJ) or, if one of the parties chooses, a federal court or state court for complaints filed with HUD and FHAP agencies, respectively. The Act and other guidelines establish timeliness benchmarks for completing certain parts of the enforcement process. An overview of HUD’s basic fair housing enforcement process is shown in figure 1. In the intake stage, FHEO hubs receive inquiries (called “claims” from 1996 to 2001), determine which ones involve a potential violation of the Act, and file fair housing complaints for those that do. FHAP agencies also receive inquiries and work with complainants to determine whether a potential violation of the Act, state or local law, or both has occurred. According to FHEO headquarters staff, the process usually starts when an individual contacts a FHEO hub by telephone, fax, or mail; in person; or over the Internet. Intake analysts refer numerous contacts they receive that are not related to fair housing to appropriate outside organizations. Intake analysts record contacts dealing with fair housing as “inquiries” in TEAPOTS. The analysts interview complainants and may do other research—for example, property searches and searches of newspaper or corporate records—to see if enough information exists to support filing a formal complaint. This initial process is known as “perfecting” a complaint, although it does not always result in a complaint. In order for a complaint to be perfected, it must: contain the required four elements of a Title VIII complaint: the name and address of the aggrieved party (the person who was allegedly injured by a discriminatory housing practice), the name and address of the respondent, a description and address of the dwelling involved, and a concise statement of the facts leading to the allegation; and satisfy the Act’s jurisdictional requirements that the complainant has standing to file the complaint; that the respondent, dwelling, subject matter of discrimination (e.g., refusal to rent or refusal to sell), and the basis (e.g., race, color, familial status) for alleging discrimination are covered by the Act; and that the complaint has been filed within a year of the last occurrence of the discriminatory practice. Hub directors decide whether these conditions are met.