Filing a Complaint

The Louisiana Attorney General's office handles the following types of fair housing discrimination complaints: real estate, mortgage and lending, and rental dwellings of any type (apartments, rental homes and trailer parks). If their office cannot handle the complaint, it will be forwarded to the appropriate agency. If this occurs, the complainant will be notified. Once they receive a complaint, the following will occur:

The complainant will receive a letter from the Attorney General's office stating they have received the complaint and that an investigation of the allegations will be conducted.

The Attorney General will also notify the business (respondent) in writing that a complaint has been filed with their office. All parties listed on the complaint form will then be contacted for an interview.

At this time, the complainant will be asked to submit all information which supports his/her claim of discrimination.

The respondent will also be given an opportunity to produce all documentation which supports his/her claim that there was no discrimination involved.

All parties will be provided an opportunity to conciliate or resolve the matter during the course of the investigation. Once the investigation has been concluded, the Louisiana Attorney General's Office will determine if the preponderance of the evidence gathered supports a finding of discrimination.

If the evidence does support a finding of discrimination, a lawsuit will be filed in state court by the Louisiana Attorney General's Office on behalf of the complainant. If the preponderance of the evidence gathered does not support a finding of discrimination, the Louisiana Attorney General's Office will close the complaint. The complainant, however, has two years from the date of the incident to file a lawsuit with a private attorney.

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