The Federal Fair Housing Act and the Mentally Ill

The Federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discriminatioin based upon handicap.In the definitional section of the Fair Housing act,  "handicap' is defined as including "mental impairment."See, 42 U.S.C. section 3602, (h) (1).Thus, a person who is afflicted with a serious mental illness, such as, bipolar disorder, schizo-affective disorder, and schizophrenia, is entitled to the protection of the Federal Fair Housing Act.For exmple, is a lessee is evicted from his or her apartment by the lessor, and the lessee is mentally ill, the lessee should be able to sue the lessor for money damages in Federal District Court, utilizing federal question jurisdiction.  Additionally, a lessee may also have protection under a state fair housing act statute.