The Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988: The First Decade

Publication Date: August 1998

Publisher: Furman Center for Real Estate

Author(s): Michael H. Schill; Samantha Friedman

Research Area: Social conditions

Keywords: Fair housing; Segregation; Affordable Housing

Type: Article

Abstract:

Thirty years ago, Congress enacted the landmark Fair Housing Act of 1968, which outlawed for the first time private as well as public discrimination in housing. Twenty years later, Congress passed the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, a law that significantly expanded the scope of the original legislation and strengthened its enforcement mechanisms. Like most important pieces of Federal legislation, the Fair Housing Act and the 1988 Amendments Act embody a series of careful compromises crafted by members of Congress.