North Dakota Fair Housing Council v. Peterson
Supreme Court of North Dakota
625 N.W.2d 551 (2001)
The Kippens (plaintiffs), then unmarried, sought to rent from the Petersons (defendants), who refused because the couple intended to cohabit while unmarried, conduct long prohibited under a North Dakota cohabitation statute. The Kippens and the North Dakota Fair Housing Council (plaintiff) sued under the state Human Rights Act (HRA), which bars housing discrimination based on "status with respect to marriage"; the trial court dismissed the Council's claim for lack of standing and granted summary judgment against the Kippens, and the Kippens appealed.
Whether a landlord unlawfully discriminates against an unmarried couple under a state law barring housing discrimination based on marital status by refusing to rent to them because they intend to cohabit unmarried, given a separate longstanding law prohibiting such cohabitation.