Case: United States v. Bob Lawrence Realty

The Department of Justice filed suit against the six Defendant-realtors, alleging that the Defendants, acting singly and in concert with each other, induced homeowners to sell their properties by telling them that African-Americans were moving into the neighborhood. U.S. District Court Judge Edenfield rejected the Defendants motion to dismiss on May 17, 1970, and found that the DOJ's allegations were sufficient to support a cause of action under the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3601-19. United States v. Bob Lawrence Realty, Inc., 313 F. Supp. 870 (N.D. Ga. 1970). Brought as a blockbuster case, the DOJ sought only injunctive relief against further violations of the FHA. Judge Edenfield granted one Defendant-realtor's motion for partial summary judgment on January 28, 1971, after finding that that Defendant may have violated the FHA by acting on its own but did not act in concert with the other Defendants. United States v. Bob Lawrence Realty, Inc., 327 F. Supp. 487 (N.D. Ga. 1971).

On December 27, 1971, the District Court entered a permanent injunction barring the Defendant-realtors from violating that FHA by making statements about the alleged influx of minority homeowners into Atlanta neighborhoods. United States v. Mitchell, 335 F. Supp. 1004 (N.D. Ga. 1971). The District Court noted, however, that while many of the Defendants' agents had made statements to homeowners in violation of the FHA, the Defendants had also reacted to expressions of racism held by private homeowners, which were not barred by the FHA. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the entry of an injunction on February 13, 1973, after rejecting a Defendant-appellant's argument that Congress lacked constitutional authority to enact the FHA. United States v. Bob Lawrence Realty, Inc., 474 F.2d 115 (5th Cir. 1973). The Supreme Court denied the Defendant-appellant's petition for a writ of certiorari on October 9, 1973. Bob Lawrence Realty, Inc. v. United States, 414 U.S. 826 (1973).

The case is now closed.