Opinion ID: 4016914
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: FHA claim

Text: Wilson’s FHA claim alleges that the private defendants committed disability discrimination by intentionally attempting to trigger his disability to prevent him from objecting to the removal of property. We review the district court’s dismissal of the claim de novo, accepting all well-pleaded facts as true and drawing all reasonable inferences in plaintiffs’ favor. Roberts v. City of Chi., 817 F.3d 561, 564 (7th Cir. 2016). Dismissal is appropriate where the complaint fails to set forth facts which amount to a plausible claim. The FHA makes it unlawful to make unavailable or deny a dwelling to anyone because of a handicap, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(1), and to coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with a person’s exercise or enjoyment of the rights granted by the FHA, 42 U.S.C. § 3617. To adequately plead a disability discrimination claim under § 3617 and § 3604, Wilson must allege facts suggesting that the private defendants entered his real estate and removed personal property because of his disability. Bloch v. Frischholz, 587 F.3d 771, 784 (7th Cir. 2009). 1 Wilson’s complaint fails because it does not plausibly allege that the private defendants acted because of his disability. It alleges that Hanson blamed Wilson for the failure of their business, that Wilson sold a piece of Hanson’s machinery for less than they had agreed, and that Hanson believed that Wilson refused to return items that he had taken from 1 A § 3604 plaintiff may also proceed on a disparate impact theory, but Wilson does not do so. No. 15-1939 5 him. R. at 286–87. These allegations suggest that the private defendants were motivated by Wilson’s dealings with Hanson rather than by his disability, and that they would have behaved the same regardless of the disability. Wilson argues that the private defendants exploited his disability to prevent him from protesting their removal of his property. But this is not enough to survive a motion to dismiss because it does not raise the inference that the private defendants would not have removed his property if he wasn’t disabled.