No Place Like Home:  FHA/FEHA Restrictions Held Not Applicable to Roommate Selection for Sharing Inside of Living Units.

     Roomate.com, LLC, which maintains a website asking questions about sex, sexual orientation, and familial status for individuals seeking roommates, must have been shocked when a district judge granted a summary judgment/permanent injunction based on finding that this selection process violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA). Even worse, San Fernando’s Fair Housing Council was awarded $494,714.40 in attorney’s fees.

     Roommate appealed. Good move.

     In a 2-1 opinion, Chief Judge Kozinski authored a Ninth Circuit opinion vacating both the merits and fee orders in Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommate.com, LLC, Case Nos. 09-55272 et al. (9th Cir. Feb. 2, 2012) (for publication). The majority found that FHA and FEHA did not apply to the roommate selection process for the sharing of living units. With that determination, the substantial fee award went POOF! also.

     BLOG UNDERVIEW--Here is the colorful beginning of this opinion: “There’s no place like home. In the privacy of your own home, you can take off your coat, kick off your shoes, let your guard down and be completely yourself. While we usually share our homes only with friends and family, sometimes we need to take in a stranger to help pay the rent. When that happens, can the government limit whom we choose?”