Fair housing advocacy groups: Litigation as a source of nonprofit funding

Civil rights advocacy has long been a part of the U.S, tradition of nonprofit charity organizations. Even before the passage of federal, state, and local fair housing laws, groups of concerned citizens gathered together to improve opportunities for equal housing choice. Fair housing councils (FHCs) cropped up across the country as the Civil Rights movement expanded throughout the nation. As a part of the nonprofit "quiet revolution," some FHCs have come across a new way to affirmatively further fair housing with much reduced government subsidies. This article explores the successes (and failures) of fair housing advocacy nonprofits that have sought compensatory and punitive damages through the courts for frustration of their missions and diversion of their resources. Some of these groups have moved from dependency on federal, state, and local government funds to reliance on court orders and civil settlements, where by fair housing scofflaws pay for their transgressions by funding the work of these advocacy organizations.