Courts in Brief

摘要

Section 804 of the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. Section 3604, applies to discrimination in mortgage financing, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled. (National Community Reinvestment Corporation v. Novastar Financial, Inc., Civil Action No. 07-0861 (RCL), 2008 WL 977351 (D.D.C.), March 31, 2008) Section 3604 makes it unlawful to refuse to sell, rent, "or otherwise make unavailable or deny," a dwelling because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, or national origin. Section 3605 bans discrimination in real estate-related transactions, which include the making or purchasing of mortgage loans. Defendant financial institutions argued that because Section 3605 specifically deals with discrimination in mortgage financing, the scope of Section 3604 should be limited to discrimination in the sale or rental of housing. Rejecting this argument, the court said it would ignore the broad "otherwise make unavailable or deny" language in Section 3604.