Civil Penalties for Fair Housing Act Violations

This final rule adopts revisions to HUD's regulations governing hearing procedures for civil rights matters made effective by an interim rule published on February 10, 1999. These revisions implement two important changes in the way civil penalties are assessed in fair housing cases. First, they allow an administrative law judge (ALJ) to assess a separate civil penalty against a respondent for each separate and distinct discriminatory housing practice committed by the respondent. Second, they require an ALJ to take into account, in favor of imposing a maximum civil penalty, a finding that a respondent has committed a housing-related hate act. This final rule takes into consideration public comments received on the February 10, 1999 interim rule. After careful consideration of the public comments, HUD has decided to adopt the interim rule without change.