## Facts

- Donahue Francis, a Black tenant, rented an apartment in a building owned and managed by Kings Park Manor, Inc. (KPM).
- Another tenant in the building repeatedly subjected Francis to racial harassment, including racist slurs and threats of violence and death.
- Francis reported the harassment to the police; law enforcement investigated and later arrested the harassing tenant.
- Francis also notified KPM about the harassment and told KPM that the police were involved.
- KPM’s leases gave KPM authority to discipline or evict tenants for misconduct, and KPM had used that authority in other situations.
- Francis did not ask KPM to discipline or evict the harassing tenant; instead, he sued KPM, alleging that KPM violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by failing to act after receiving notice.
- The federal district court dismissed the complaint. A Second Circuit panel reversed, and the court granted rehearing en banc.

## Issues

1. Whether the FHA permits liability against a landlord based solely on the landlord’s failure to intervene after learning of tenant-on-tenant racial harassment, without plausible allegations that the landlord acted with discriminatory intent.
2. Whether allegations that a landlord had contractual power to discipline or evict a tenant, and received notice of harassment, are enough to plead that the landlord’s inaction was “because of race” under FHA provisions addressing discriminatory terms and conditions of rental housing and interference with housing rights.
3. Whether the complaint plausibly alleged that KPM’s conduct—rather than the harassing tenant’s conduct—constituted actionable discrimination or interference under the FHA.

## Decision

- The en banc Second Circuit held that the complaint did not state an FHA claim against KPM based on the alleged failure to respond to a tenant’s racial harassment.
- The court concluded that, as pleaded, KPM’s inaction did not plausibly show that KPM itself discriminated against Francis “because of race” or intentionally interfered with his FHA rights.
- The court rejected the theory that a landlord’s mere receipt of complaints, combined with its general power to discipline or evict, automatically creates FHA liability for not stopping a tenant’s misconduct.
- The court emphasized that the complaint lacked factual allegations supporting an inference that KPM treated Francis differently than similarly situated tenants, acted from racial bias, or chose not to act for race-based reasons.
- The court affirmed the district court’s dismissal (vacating the panel decision that had allowed the case to proceed).

## Legal Principles

- FHA claims under provisions addressing discriminatory “terms, conditions, or privileges” of rental housing and interference with FHA rights require plausible allegations that the defendant’s challenged conduct was motivated by race (or another protected characteristic).
- A landlord is not automatically liable under the FHA for discriminatory harassment committed by one tenant against another tenant; the plaintiff must connect the landlord’s own conduct to intentional discrimination or intentional interference.
- Notice of tenant misconduct and a landlord’s contractual authority to discipline or evict may be relevant, but they do not by themselves establish that the landlord’s inaction was discriminatory.
- To plead an FHA claim based on a landlord’s response to third-party harassment, allegations typically must support an inference that the landlord’s actions (or refusal to act) reflected race-based disparate treatment or other facts permitting a reasonable inference of discriminatory intent by the landlord.

## Conclusion

Francis v. Kings Park Manor, Inc. holds that, on the allegations pleaded, a landlord’s failure to intervene after learning of severe tenant-on-tenant racial harassment did not violate the FHA where the complaint did not plausibly allege that the landlord’s own inaction was motivated by race or otherwise amounted to intentional discrimination or intentional interference with FHA rights.


Francis v. Kings Park Manor, Inc., 992 F.3d 67 (2021)