Opinion ID: 752967
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Investigation Injury

Text: 82 The FHC also adduced evidence sufficient to confer standing for a 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c) violation based on the costs to investigate the housing advertisements in the Montgomery Newspapers. Havens found injury in fact when a fair housing organization had to divert resources to identify and counteract discriminatory practices. 455 U.S. at 379, 102 S.Ct. at 1124. Like educational injury, the courts following Havens agree that costs incurred investigating violations of the Fair Housing Act can confer standing. See, e.g., Hooker v. Weathers, 990 F.2d 913, 915 (6th Cir.1993) (costs incurred in the investigation to confirm the facts and circumstances alleged in the complaint constitute injury for standing purposes). 83 The majority erroneously concludes that the FHC investigation cannot confer standing because it was a regular part of the day-to-day operations of the organization. It cites depositions of FHC staff in support of this conclusion. Indeed, there was some suggestion in the deposition of Jan Chadwick that reviewing housing advertisements was a regular matter of business for FHC staffers. However, based on the evidence, one could also reasonably conclude that the FHC investigation followed violations of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c), and because of repeated violations, became a daily function of the FHC. For standing purposes, we look only for an identifiable trifle of injury, so the FHC need only submit evidence to create a genuine issue of whether it diverted the slightest amount of additional time to read the Montgomery Newspapers. U.S. v. Students Challenging Regulatory Agency Procedures, 412 U.S. 669, 689 n. 14, 93 S.Ct. 2405, 2417 n. 14, 37 L.Ed.2d 254 (1973). I believe they have met this burden. 84 The FHC made a specific showing of its increased efforts to identify and eventually counteract discriminatory ads under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c). The record shows that investigation efforts began in 1989, when the FHC began reviewing the housing advertisements in the Montgomery Newspapers. The investigation was prompted by the FHC's discovery that despite a recent amendment to the Fair Housing Act, local papers did not comply with the provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of family status. The FHC filed charges with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but the illegal advertisements continued. The graph submitted by the FHC shows that the FHC devoted more resources to identify the discriminatory advertisements in the Montgomery Newspapers than it would have normally directed toward simply reviewing housing advertisements. The FHC also proffered the affidavit of Executive Director James Berry explaining the increased investigative efforts, and this was supported by the materials charting the resources dedicated to investigating the housing advertisements in the Montgomery News. 85 Counsel for Montgomery Newspapers suggested during oral argument that the FHC could have sent testers to determine whether the ads were placed with the intention of discrimination on the basis of familial status. Certainly, that was one potential investigatory technique available to it. However, no one technique is required to establish standing. A violation of section 3604(c) occurs upon publication. This is distinguishable from a violation of section 3604(d), which occurs when misleading information is given to a tester. Naturally, one method of identifying violations under section 3604(c) is to read the newspaper. FHC did just that, and its efforts were intended to identify the pattern and practices of discriminatory conduct and to counteract it through legal pressure and education. 86 Congress intended to confer broad rights to enforce the Fair Housing Act. See Havens, 455 U.S. at 374 n. 14, 102 S.Ct. at 1122 n. 14. For example, a tester may pose as a prospective purchaser, expect unlawful practices based on race, and have standing to sue under 42 U.S.C. § 3604(d) if the housing provider misrepresents the availability of housing. This is distinguishable from 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a), which requires a bona fide offer for housing to present a claim of a discriminatory refusal to sell or rent. However, like the tester provision, there is no bona fide requirement for enforcement of the advertisement provision. 87 Nevertheless, the majority suggests that the investigation must be motivated by a complaint about advertising in the Montgomery Newspapers. This is not correct. Independent investigations not initiated by complaints were also a part of the regular activities of the fair housing organization in Havens. In Havens, the organization's activities included: 88 conducting independent investigations of real estate brokers located in the metropolitan area to determine whether housing is being made available without regard to race; and taking appropriate steps to eliminate any racial discriminatory housing practices it may have found to exist. 89 Coles v. Havens Realty Corp., 633 F.2d 384, 385 (4th Cir.1980), aff'd sub. nom. Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman, 455 U.S. 363, 102 S.Ct. 1114, 71 L.Ed.2d 214 (1982). The Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit concluded that the drain on resources necessary to identify violations of the Fair Housing Act is sufficient to confer standing, irrespective of whether such investigation was motivated by a complaint.IV. Litigation Injury 90 The FHC's litigation injuries in the form of attorneys' fees to bring this case are insufficient to impart standing under the Fair Housing Act, especially since the act provides for recovery of attorneys' fees. 42 U.S.C. § 3613(c)(2). My agreement with the majority stops there. 91 Havens did not specifically decide whether the costs of litigation or enforcement of the Fair Housing Act are sufficient to confer standing. Arguably, this activity would fall under the category of activities intended to counteract discrimination. Courts from the Second and Seventh Circuits have read Havens to confer standing even when resources are diverted for litigation purposes only. See, e.g., City of Chicago v. Matchmaker Real Estate Sales Ctr., Inc., 982 F.2d 1086, 1095 (7th Cir.1992); Village of Bellwood v. Dwivedi, 895 F.2d 1521, 1526 (7th Cir.1990); Ragin v. Harry Macklowe Real Estate Co., 6 F.3d 898, 905 (2d Cir.1993). The majority does not find these cases persuasive, instead relying on the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's conclusion that litigation costs alone cannot confer standing because it would allow litigants to achieve manufactured, or purely self-referential injury by merely filing the complaint. Fair Employment Council of Greater Washington, Inc. v. BMC Marketing Corp., 28 F.3d 1268 (D.C.Cir.1994); Spann v. Colonial Village, Inc., 899 F.2d 24 (D.C.Cir.1990). 92 In my opinion, the FHC has standing, even under the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's holdings, because many activities that fall between investigation and litigation can confer standing under Havens. For example, in this case, the FHC chose many non-litigation methods to apply legal pressure upon the Montgomery Newspapers to enforce the Fair Housing Act. The FHC filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Resources Commission. In addition, the FHC attempted to notify the newspaper of its violations of section 3604(c). My conclusion to confer standing upon fair housing organizations for enforcement activities, other than the filing of the lawsuit, does not conflict with the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit's cases that the majority finds persuasive. BMC Marketing and Spann only prohibit conferral of standing from the act of filing the lawsuit. 93 My conclusion is also entirely consistent with the policies of the Fair Housing Act. First, Congress intended that groups like the FHC take action to enforce the provisions of the Fair Housing Act. If we do not recognize the efforts that precede litigation as injury, we will cramp the options now open to fair housing organizations that are laboring to counteract discrimination. Large scale, long term pre-litigation efforts that draw from program resources should constitute injury for standing purposes even if they culminate in litigation. Second, I see little danger that plaintiffs may manufacture standing in the context of the Fair Housing Act. It is not that easy. The greater danger is exaggerating the risk of nullifying Article III, and thereby eviscerating the statutory scheme of the Fair Housing Act, which clearly relies upon private enforcement to ensure compliance. 94 The FHC correctly states that the Fair Housing Act relies upon private attorneys general to enforce its provisions. See 42 U.S.C. § 3613; 3 Trafficante v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., 409 U.S. 205, 210-211, 93 S.Ct. 364, 367-68, 34 L.Ed.2d 415 (1972) (noting the paucity of statutory remedies); Hooker v. Weathers, 990 F.2d 913, 915 (6th Cir.1993) (finding standing under Havens due to the increase of resources devoted to programs independent of its suit challenging the action); Housing Opportunities Made Equal v. Cincinnati Enquirer, Inc., 943 F.2d 644, 646 (6th Cir.1991) (Courts have given a broad reading to the FHA in order to fulfill its remedial purpose.). Accordingly, we have an obligation to address the issue of standing (pursuant to litigation injuries) so as to fulfill the private enforcement provisions of the Fair Housing Act. We can give vitality to [The Fair Housing Act] only by a generous construction which gives standing to sue to all ... who are injured by ... discrimination ... within the coverage of the statute. Trafficante, 409 U.S. at 212, 93 S.Ct. at 368. We should carefully consider which litigation injuries confer standing to maintain the integrity of Article III, while still allowing fair housing organizations to fulfill their role as private attorneys general. Spann, 899 F.2d at 30 (citing Trafficante, 409 U.S. at 211, 93 S.Ct. at 368). As explained above, I believe I have done so in this case: allowing the FHC's investigations and legal pressure, applied through letters or administrative proceedings to confer standing, but rejecting the theory that the FHC's costs to file this lawsuit can impart standing. 95 Finally, we cannot overlook the will of the legislature in determining whether the FHC has standing to sue. Havens, 455 U.S. at 373, 102 S.Ct. at 1121. The injury required by Article III may exist solely by virtue of 'statutes creating legal rights, the invasion of which creates standing.'  Id. (citing Warth v. Seldin, 422 U.S. 490, 500, 95 S.Ct. 2197, 2205, 45 L.Ed.2d 343 (1975)). The policies of the Act and the concrete injuries alleged by the plaintiff organizations thus intertwine to support plaintiffs' standing to bring this suit. Spann, 899 F.2d at 31 (citations omitted). Congress specifically endorsed the values that the FHC seeks to enforce and their methods of enforcement, in the Fair Housing Act: 96 The Congress finds that (1) in the past half decade there have been major legislative and administrative changes in Federal fair housing and fair lending laws and substantial improvements in the Nation's understanding of discrimination in the housing markets; ... (9) the proven efficacy of private nonprofit fair housing enforcement organizations and community-based efforts makes support for these organizations a necessary component of the fair housing enforcement system. 97 Fair Housing Act of 1968, Pub.L. No. 102-550, Section 905(a), 106 Stat. 3869 (1992). 98 In sum, we should not so fear the possibility of manufactured standing that we set barriers artificially high and thereby nullify the private enforcement provisions of the Fair Housing Act.