Law Commons^™

How Should The Law Treat Roommate Relationships? A Tale Of Two Cases, Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

The law of roommates is an important but underdeveloped area of landlord-tenant law. Two recent cases, Fair Hous. Council v. Roommate.com, 666 F.3d 1216 (9th Cir. 2012) and Mercury Cas. Co. v. Chu, 229 CA4th 1432 (2014), offer contrasting approaches. This article explores the issues, reviews the cases and favors the Mercury court's approach.

Does Fair Housing Law Apply To “Shared Living Situations”? Or, The Trouble With Roommates, Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

In 2012, the Ninth Circuit held that to avoid a constitutional conflict with the right to freedom of association neither the federal Fair Housing Act nor California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act apply to persons seeking roommates or to other shared living situations. This article criticizes the opinion as poorly reasoned and overly broad and then offers a more targeted legislative solution to the problem.

Does Fair Housing Law Apply To “Shared Living Situations”? Or, The Trouble With Roommates, Tim Iglesias

Tim Iglesias

In 2012, the Ninth Circuit held that to avoid a constitutional conflict with the right to freedom of association neither the federal Fair Housing Act nor California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act apply to persons seeking roommates or to other shared living situations. This article criticizes the opinion as poorly reasoned and overly broad and then offers a more targeted legislative solution to the problem.

This is an abbreviated version of the article that appeared in the JOURNAL OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LAW (Spring 2014).