About the Law

Sweeping changes marked the 1960's as a decade of progress in both civil rights and open housing legislation. The movement toward racial equality included the Supreme Court's Brown v Board of Education, the Public Accommodations Bill, and the Voting Rights Act.  All helped to shape the U.S. Civil Rights Act signed into law on April 11, 1968, the week following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

April 11, 2008 marks the 40th Anniversary of the passage of Federal Fair Housing Act. Since that day, advocacy groups like the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan have used the law as the main tool in combating housing discrimination. The Act expressly prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability and family status. [The following is an excerpt from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. You can read more history of the Federal Fair Housing Act on their website.]

On April 11, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968, which was meant as a follow-up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The 1968 act expanded on previous acts and prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex, (and as amended) handicap and family status. Title VIII of the Act is also known as the Fair Housing Act (of 1968).

The enactment of the federal Fair Housing Act on April 11, 1968 came only after a long and difficult journey. From 1966-1967, Congress regularly considered the fair housing bill, but failed to garner a strong enough majority for its passage. However, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, President Lyndon Johnson utilized this national tragedy to urge for the bill's speedy Congressional approval. Since the 1966 open housing marches in Chicago, Dr. King's name had been closely associated with the fair housing legislation. President Johnson viewed the Act as a fitting memorial to the man's life work, and wished to have the Act passed prior to Dr. King's funeral in Atlanta.

Title VIII of the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1968 is commonly referred to as the Federal Fair Housing Act. This federal law, as amended in 1974 and 1988, protects each individual's right to equal housing opportunity without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and/or familial status (the presence of children).

In Michigan, housing discrimination is prohibited by the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act and the Persons with Disabilities Civil Rights Act. State law includes all federal protections as well as age and marital status.

Local fair housing ordinances in the cities of Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti provide added protection against discrimination based on source of income, student status, and sexual orientation.  Ann Arbor passed a fair housing ordinance in 1963, making it one of the first cities in the country to do so.