Federal efforts to combat discrimination in the housing and mortgage markets federal enforcement and judicial review of the fair housing amendments act of 1988

Abstract

This paper assesses the impact of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988. First the shortcomings of the original 1968 law are considered, and the new amendments are described and analyzed to determine whether they answer those shortcomings. Second, the paper reviews the current Administration's implementation of the new law and the initial experience of judicial review. Implementation of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988 could have been the single most successful domestic achievement of the Bush Administration. The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Justice Department, due to the lack of adequate enforcement, resources and initiatives, have failed to provide an effective enforcement effort. Additional initiatives, including a heightened federal enforcement effort and the strengthening of state, local, and private enforcement capacity, will be required to curtail continued pervasive discrimination in housing and provide adequate relief for the victims of such discrimination.