Fair Housing: a Rare Consensus

In 1968, after much debate and a six-week filibuster, Congress passed the Fair Housing Act to prohibit discrimination in the sale or rental of housing based on race, color, religion, national origin or sex. Twenty years later the Senate has overwhelmingly passed a bill to broaden the protections and toughen the enforcement provisions. Both provisions are welcome and necessary.

Despite the Reagan Administration’s dismal record on civil rights generally, the legislation has a pretty good chance of becoming law. The White House has dropped its opposition to the measure, thanks to bipartisan support and to years of perseverance by U.S. Housing Secretary Samuel R. Pierce Jr., who negotiated crucial compromises.

The bill, which was sponsored by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), represents a rare consensus among Republicans, Democrats, realtors, home builders and civil-rights advocates who have been at odds since 1980, when a filibuster killed an earlier bill. This time the House also passed similar legislation sponsored by Reps. Don Edwards (D-San Jose) and Hamilton Fish Jr. (R-N.Y.).

Under the current law, federal housing officials can offer only mediation to resolve discrimination disputes. When that fails, enforcement depends solely on federal lawsuits filed by the Justice Department that charge a pattern of housing bias, or on private suits filed by individuals. That process--prohibitively expensive and discouragingly slow--can take years, during which an apartment or a house can drop from the market.

The proposed law would allow administrative-law judges to hear cases involving discrimination, issue injunctions and levy fines of $10,000 to $50,000. The process would be quicker, cheaper and more efficient, but parties to a dispute could still choose the delay and expense of a jury trial. Federal lawyers would represent plaintiffs.

The proposed law would also extend civil-rights protections to families with children and disabled persons. It makes sensible exemptions for retirement communities and excludes convicted drug dealers. A landmark HUD study estimates that 2 million Americans are turned away every year when they try to rent or to buy a home. That is both wrong and against the law. Firmer enforcement will make a big reduction in those numbers.