Group Housing

This paper describes the impacts of the FHAA on local zoning laws and land use regulations, and explores how lawsuits have successfully challenged the use of zoning to limit group homes. It describes zoning principles related to fair housing derived from court rulings in the areas of intentional discrimination, discriminatory classifications, disparate impact, and reasonable accommodation. It briefly lists a number of possible municipal defenses to fair housing claims, such as maximum occupancy limit, direct threat, statute of limitations, and ripeness/exhaustion.