Should Someone Tell Christian Roommates About the Ninth Circuit's Decision in Roommates.com?

While looking for the latest discussion of the recent Roommates.com decision, I came across Christian Roommates, a free website that purports to be "your online tool for finding a Christian Roommate in your area."  Users can use the site to find "Christian" roommates or list housing for rent to other "Christians."  While the site does not require users to state their religion before gaining access to the site, it repeatedly purports to be a place for users to find Christian roommates and tenants.

Given these facts, is Christian Roommates exposed to liability under the Fair Housing Act?  Can it rely on the protection of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act?

Comments

[Evan]

Interesting question. Sure the site looks like it would, in so many words, facilitate the indication of a preference regarding a protected class and violate the FHA. But inasmuch as it's a whole site built around an idea that permeates one's religious practice, it seems like there could be some free exercise clause issues. The First Amendment has to be hanging out in this space somewhere.

[Jonathan Frieden]

I'm not, by any means, an expert on the law pertaining to discriminatory housing practices, but, like Evan, my initial thought is that there may be some exposure. However, could Christian Roommates be saved by the fact that it never asks the illicit question, "Are you a Christian?" and does not appear to prohibit non-Christians from making use of the site to find and list housing opportunities.

Evan, in light of Roommates.com, do you think Christian Roommates would be protected by Section 230?

[D. C. Toedt]

I wonder whether the law differentiates between advertising for roommates versus advertising for tenants. A roommate-seeker might be able to assert some kind of privacy- and personal-liberty interest, perhaps as a Justice Douglas-style penumbral emanation from the Ninth Amendment, which wouldn't seem to carry as much weight in a purely commercial landlord-tenant relationship.