United States v. Presidio Investments, Ltd.

Appellant Janet Blair appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment against the original plaintiff (the United States of America), and in favor of Presidio Investments, Ltd. (“Presidio Investments”) and Edward Sandquist. The government on behalf of appellant alleged that Edward Sand-quist, her landlord, discriminated against her on the basis of her sex in violation of the Fair Housing Act, as amended. See 42 U.S.C. §§ 3610-3619 . Basing its decision on its conclusion that the 1988 Amendments to the Fair Housing Act in their entirety were not retroactive, the district court held: 1) the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”) investigation was not a pending action for purposes of filing the instant action when the 1988 Amendments to the Fair Housing Act became effective; 2) that to allow the government to proceed with the prosecution of this case would be to interpret the 1988 Amendments to apply to virtually any preexisting or pending action; and, 3) that because the complaint was filed on behalf of an individual, the matter was not of “great national concern,” and thus to apply the 1988 Amendments “retroactively” would result in “manifest injustice.” Bradley…