13.8.2 Equitable Relief

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.