General tort principles apply to FHA damage suits, which allow recovery of nominal, actual, and punitive damages.1  The major components of actual damages in FHA cases are humiliation, embarrassment, and emotional distress.2

Punitive damages may be appropriate where “reckless or callous disregard for the plaintiff's rights, as well as intentional violations of federal law” are evidenced.3  At least 4 circuits have adopted this standard for FHA claims.4  Applying this standard, the Fifth Circuit approved a $55,000 punitive damages award where the actual damages were only $500.5  The Eighth Circuit used a multiplier of 4 in an FHA sex harassment case.6

• 1Curtis v. Loether, 415 U.S. 189 (1974).
• 2For a discussion of damage awards, see Kale Williams, Maximizing Damage Awards in a Fair Housing Case, 26 John Marshall L.R. 1 (1993).
• 3461 U.S. 30 (1983)
• 4Lincoln v. Case, 340 F.3d 283 (5th Cir. 2003).
• 5Id.
• 6Quigley v. Winter, 598 F.3d 938 (8th Cir. 2010).

Under § 3613, the court may grant permanent and interlocutory injunctions. The courts are divided over whether the Anti-Injunction Act bars FHA injunctions of state court actions in progress.1  Given these uncertainties, it may be preferable to sue in state district court when an FHA plaintiff faces a state court summary eviction lawsuit.2  If the federal case is filed before the landlord files the eviction case in state court, lis pendens should bar the eviction action and force the litigation of all of the outstanding issues in the housing discrimination lawsuit.

• 1Compare Casa Marie, Inc. v. Superior Ct. of P.R., 988 F. 2d 252 (1st Cir. 1993), with Oxford House, Inc. v. City of Albany, 819 F. Supp. 1168 (N.D.N.Y. 1993).
• 2Note that a different situation would be presented if you also had a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 action against a governmental defendant since a § 1983 action is a recognized exception to the Anti-Injunction Act. But you should also consider whether Younger abstention applies. 

A successful plaintiff can obtain attorney’s fees under the FHA under standards virtually identical to those in 42 U.S.C. § 1988.1

Attorney’s fees are also available under the Louisiana Open Housing Act (LOHA). Note, however, that the LOHA provides attorney’s fees to whichever party prevails. Although the sponsors of that change have stated that their intent was to adopt the same attorney’s fees standard as the FHA, it is possible that the courts will use a “loser pays” standard rather than the “frivolous” standard used in FHA cases.

• 1See 42 U.S.C. § 3613(a).