St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana has been sued by the US government for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act by limiting rental housing opportunities for African-Americans.
The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, alleges that the parish took repeated actions to limit the availability of multi-family and rental housing in the parish, including establishing an onerous permit-approval process for single-family rentals and eliminating multi-family housing in large portions of the parish.
The complaint alleges that the parish’s actions both were intended to and had the effect of disproportionately disadvantaging African-Americans seeking to rent housing in St. Bernard Parish. The parish has been sued previously over housing and land-use decisions since Hurricane Katrina and found in contempt of court orders repeatedly.
“Every person should have the opportunity to choose where they will live. When a local government puts up discriminatory barriers, as St. Bernard Parish has, it violates the law,” said Thomas E. Perez, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, and familial status. Fair housing enforcement is a priority of the Civil Rights Division. The lawsuit seeks a court order that would enjoin the parish from making unavailable or denying housing on the basis of race and requires it to take actions to prevent any similar discriminatory conduct in the future.
The complaint is based in part on referrals from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). From March 2008 to September 2011, 10 residents and homeowners filed complaints with HUD, alleging that the parish’s actions violated the Fair Housing Act. HUD referred these complaints to the Department of Justice in accordance with a provision in the Fair Housing Act that authorizes the department to enforce allegations of discriminatory zoning or land use practices by a local government.
The lawsuit also seeks monetary damages for persons harmed by the parish’s actions and a civil penalty. This is not the first time St. Bernard Parish has faced allegations of housing discrimination, as a federal district court found that the parish had engaged in intentional discrimination in violation of the Fair Housing Act by “doggedly attempt[ing] to preserve the pre-Katrina demographics of St. Bernard Parish” in October 2011.
Defendant: St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
Criminal Charges: Violation of the Fair Housing Act
City and State: St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana
Exact Date: WASHINGTON – March 2008 to September 2011 and January 20, 2012
Sentence or Outcome: Ongoing lawsuit
Dollar Amounts: Not specified
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Key Facts
- State: Louisiana
- Category: Public Corruption
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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