The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued several important opinions addressing, among other things, the Affordable Care Act, same-sex marriage and disparate-impact claims under the Fair Housing Act. Specifically, in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et al. v. Inclusive Communities Project, et al., the Supreme Court held that FHA discrimination claims may be premised on “disparate impact,” meaning that the practice challenged, while not intended to discriminate, has a disproportionate impact on minorities and other protected classes.
The Inclusive Communities Project Inc., a Texas-based nonprofit corporation that assists low-income families with obtaining affordable housing, sued the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, for violation of the FHA in connection with the Department’s distribution of federally funded low-income housing tax credits to developers based on certain selection criteria. The ICP alleged that the department and its officers allocated too many tax credits to housing in predominantly black inner-city areas and too few tax credits in predominantly white suburban neighborhoods, thereby perpetuating segregated housing patterns in Texas.
