N. D. Fair Hous. Council v. Peterson

2001 N.D. 81 (N.D. Sup. Ct. 2001) ; Clearinghouse Number: 53846

Description

Citing Anticohabitation Statute, North Dakota Supreme Court Finds No Housing Discrimination in Landlords’ Refusal to Rent to Unmarried Couple

Abstract

The North Dakota Supreme Court held that refusal to rent to unmarried couples was not an unlawful discriminatory practice. In March 1999 engaged appellants—now married—sought to rent a home from appellee landlords. Landlords declined, citing state law forbidding “liv[ing] openly and notoriously with a person of the opposite sex as a married couple without being married. . . .” The couple and the North Dakota Fair Housing Council sued seeking declaratory and injunctive relief, alleging that the landlord’s actions violated the state Human Rights Act’s prohibition against housing discrimination on the basis of “status with respect to marriage” and that the unlawful cohabitation statute was meant primarily to prohibit a couple from fraudulently presenting themselves as married when they were not. Finding that the Fair Housing Council had no standing under the Human Rights Act, the district court dismissed it as a party. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of landlords; it found that North Dakota public policy disfavored cohabitation and that, based on the state law, landlords were entitled to deny housing to the unmarried couple. The supreme court affirmed, finding that the legislature did not intend the Human Rights Act to repeal the cohabitation prohibition statute and that the “status with respect to marriage” provision protected tenants against discrimination due to being married, single, divorced, or widowed but did not extend to unmarried couples. The court explained that the cohabitation statute regulated conduct, not status, and that the two statutory provisions could be read harmoniously.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Attorneys for appellants Edwin F. Dyer III, 418 East Broadway Ave., Suite 230, PO Box 2261, Bismarck ND 58502-2261 (701.223.2099); Christopher Brancart, Brancart & Brancart, PO Box 686, Pescadero CA 94060.
Docket Date
2001-05-01 00:00:00+00:00