In 1968 the United States Congress passed the 18.
18. Which one of the following best states the main idea of
Fair Housing Act, intended to counter discrimination the passage?
based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin
(A) Before the decision of the United States
in the sale and leasing of housing. In Havens Realty
(5) Corp. v. Coleman (1982), the United States Supreme Supreme Court in Havens Realty Corp. v.
Court attempted to define for the Fair Housing Act Coleman the Fair Housing Act was not an
those persons who fulfill the “standing” requirement, effective weapon against discriminatory
which holds that only those parties having a personal housing practices.
stake in the outcome of a controversy are warranted (B) The decision of the United States Supreme
(10) to bring suit. Specifically, the Court was asked to Court in Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman
decide whether a “tester” (an individual who, without served to highlight certain omissions in the
an intent to rent or purchase a dwelling, poses as a Fair Housing Act.
renter or purchaser for the purpose of investigating (C) The decision of the United States Supreme
rental/sales practices) has standing. The Court was Court in Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman
(15) also asked whether an organization has standing to inadvertently diluted the effectiveness of the
sue on its own behalf. Fair Housing Act.
Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman originated in a (D) The decision of the United States Supreme
class action suit filed in a local court in 1979. The Court in Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman was
plaintiffs were two testers—a black woman named the most important to address the issue of who
(20) Sylvia Coleman and a white man named R. Kent has a right to bring suit in legal cases.
Willis—and HOME, a nonprofit fair housing (E) The decision of the United States Supreme
organization. The plaintiffs alleged that Havens Court in Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman
Realty had engaged in discriminatory practices such helped to clarify who had a right to bring suit
as showing each tester apartments only in buildings under the Fair Housing Act.
(25) occupied primarily by that person’s racial group and
telling the plaintiffs conflicting stories regarding the 19. According to the passage, Havens Realty was
availability of individual apartments. The court accused by the plaintiffs in Havens Realty Corp. v.
dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims, holding that they Coleman of doing which one of the following?
lacked the required standing under the act. According
(30) to the court, only a person who actually intended to (A) refusing to respond to one of the testers’
rent would meet the act’s requirements. explicit requests for information regarding a
The case eventually came before the United certain apartment
States Supreme Court, which held that Coleman and (B) providing the two testers with contradictory
Willis, as testers, did have standing to sue. In information regarding which apartments were
(35) deciding the case, the Court looked to the appropriate available
sections of the Fair Housing Act. Section 804(d) (C) misrepresenting the ethnic makeup of certain
states that it is unlawful “to represent to any person apartment complexes to the testers
because of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex (D) refusing to rent a specific apartment to one of
that any dwelling is not available ... when such the testers
(40) dwelling is in fact so available.” The Court reasoned (E) devoting more time and attention to one tester
that the act “conferred on all persons a legal right to than to the other
truthful information about available housing.” The
testers had therefore suffered the exact injury made 20. The passage suggests that the local court based its
unlawful by the statute and thus it is irrelevant decision on which one of the following beliefs
(45) whether the tester intended to either rent or buy the concerning Coleman?
dwelling. (A) She was not personally affected by the
The Court also had to resolve whether HOME
defendant’s practices.
had a right to sue as an organization. The Court held
(B) She did not accurately report the defendant’s
that, like the individual plaintiffs, HOME had to show
practices.
(50) a direct or threatened injury caused by the defendant.
(C) She unintentionally abetted the defendant’s
HOME averred that it had been frustrated by the
practices.
defendant’s discriminatory practices in its effort to
assist equal access to housing, and had been forced to (D) She devoted significant resources to identifying
devote significant resources to identifying and the defendant’s practices.
(55) counteracting the said discriminatory practices. The (E) She provoked the defendant’s practices by
Court agreed that the injury alleged by HOME was falsely identifying herself.
concrete and decided that the organization did have
standing in this case.
GO ON TO THE NEXT PAGE.
21. According to the passage, which one of the following 24. Which one of the following best describes the
was central to the Supreme Court’s decision in the organization of the passage?
case of Havens Realty Corp. v. Coleman?
(A) A piece of legislation is described and then the
(A) legislators’ statements explaining the original effect of the legislation on certain social
intent of the law that allegedly had been practices is analyzed.
violated (B) A certain legal case with relevance to a piece of
(B) the precedent established by other cases that legislation is broadly introduced and then the
had been decided based on the law that history and resolution of the case is presented
allegedly had been violated in greater detail.
(C) the exact wording of the law that allegedly had (C) A legal problem related to a piece of legislation
been violated is posed and then several ways of solving that
(D) the arguments presented by the defendant’s problem are examined in some detail.
attorneys (D) An illegal practice is described and legal
(E) the best interests of society safeguards against that practice are outlined
and advocated.
22. Which one of the following is most similar to the (E) Several stages in the history of a legal issue are
activities and goals of testers, as they are described in narrated and then several social and legal
the passage? implications of that issue are suggested.
(A) A government agent poses as a potential buyer
25. Which one of the following is most likely to be an
of drugs in order to build a case against a
example of the use of resources claimed by HOME to
known drug dealer.
have been necessitated by the defendant?
(B) The manager of a store hires an actor to pose as
a customer in order to decide which employee (A) the hiring and training of security experts to
should be awarded the monthly service bonus. protect HOME’s offices
(C) A teenager poses as a college student in order to (B) the hiring of attorneys to fight off frivolous
be granted entry to a college campus event. lawsuits filed against HOME by realty
(D) A journalist telephones a bank and poses as a companies
private secretary in order to gain information (C) the hiring and training of testers to investigate
for an article about a business executive’s the rental practices of realty companies
financial dealings. (D) the expansion of HOME’s mission to combat a
(E) A consumer advocate poses as a tourist in order wider variety of civil rights abuses
to identify taxicab companies that overcharge (E) the compensation of HOME employees for
their passengers. hazards to their health and safety caused by
housing management organizations
23. The passage suggests which one of the following
about Havens Realty? 26. The “injury made unlawful by the statute”
(lines 43–44) refers to which one of the following?
(A) Havens Realty showed many of the same
apartments to both testers. (A) refusal to rent housing to an individual or
(B) Havens Realty claimed that some apartments organization
were not available when in fact they were (B) noncompliance with local regulations regarding
available. housing practices
(C) Havens Realty showed the testers apartments (C) the denial of accurate information about
concentrated within a relatively small locality. available housing
(D) Havens Realty had been shown to have (D) rejection on insufficient grounds of a legitimate
engaged in discriminatory practices before lawsuit
the testers asked to be shown apartments. (E) facilitating the establishment of housing
(E) Havens Realty was presented with different occupied primarily by a single racial group
requirements by each tester regarding the
kind of apartment that he or she wanted to
see.
