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- Latest news item posted on 08/19/2008 at 05:24 AM
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- Watch the June 12, 2008 House hearings before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties on "Enforcement of the Fair Housing Act of 1968" here.
U.S. says many apartments violate accessibility law
(NEW YORK, N.Y., Aug. 18, 2008)
-- Facing potential lawsuits by the federal government, developers and landlords in New York City may need to spend tens of millions of dollars to renovate more than 100,000 apartments built since 1991 to comply with federal housing laws barring discrimination against tenants who use wheelchairs, real estate industry officials say.
For 20 years, residential developers have complied with a city law requiring them to ensure that all the apartments they build are accessible to disabled tenants. Considered path-breaking legislation when it was enacted in 1988, the city law essentially meets the federal requirements of the Fair Housing Act, developers and city officials say.
But the United States attorney’s office in Manhattan has sent letters to about a dozen of the city’s most prominent landlords and their architects saying that some of their buildings were “not accessible to persons with disabilities,” which would constitute discrimination under the Fair Housing Act. The recipients included Related Companies, the Durst Organization, Rose Associates, Rockrose Development and Silverstein Properties.
The letters said that doors were not wide enough, and that kitchens and bathrooms were not big enough to allow someone in a wheelchair to maneuver. Also, the letters said, tenants could not install “grab bars” to lift themselves in or out of a tub, because the walls had not been reinforced.
FULL STORY in The New York Times
Apartment complex settles housing discrimination suit
(STANTON, Calif., Aug. 16, 2008)
-- The owners and managers of a Stanton apartment complex that fined families $50 and threatened them with eviction notices when their children played outside agreed Friday to pay $618,000 to settle a housing discrimination lawsuit.
In the class-action suit, nine families alleged that Plaza Patria Court Ltd., the owner of the Plaza Court Apartments, targeted families by fining them if their children were outside unsupervised, playing on the grass or taking out the trash. Also named in the suit were JDC Management Co. and former on-site manager Catherine Gomez.
Plaza Patria Court has received loans from the Stanton Redevelopment Agency as part of a plan to rehabilitate the complex. Families at the 104-unit low-income building said they paid managers hundreds of dollars in fines and late fees even though those payments were not allowed under their leases.
A memo Gomez sent to tenants in 2001 read, "Children are not allowed to be outside alone, ever. If I find out or I see them outside you will receive 1 warning, then you will be asked to leave," according to the suit.
Loans pinch black homebuyers
(LOUISVILLE, Ky., Aug. 14, 2008)
-- African-American homebuyers in Louisville and Southern Indiana take on risky mortgages about twice as frequently as white borrowers, a new study shows.
African-American homebuyers in Louisville and Southern Indiana take on risky mortgages about twice as frequently as white borrowers, a new study shows.
FULL STORY in The Courier-Journal
Feds claim discrimination at apartments
(DAVIE, Fla., Aug. 14, 2008)
-- The management company of a South Florida apartment complex has been slapped with a federal lawsuit after allegedly refusing to rent units to African Americans.
C.F. Enterprises, LLC and Don Murroni, who manages the College Square Apartments at 6600 SW 39th Street in Davie, are named in the suit for violations of the Fair Housing Act.
Murroni is accused of not only discouraging African-Americans who wanted to rent units, but also lying to them by saying no apartments were available when there were units available. At the same time he reportedly offered to waive the application fees or other costs for white applicants. The suit claims Murroni also used the absence of African Americans at the College Square Apartments as a selling point to white potential renters.
FULL STORY by CBS-4
Apartment developer is sued over access for people with disabilities
(NEW YORK, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2008)
-- The Justice Department filed a federal lawsuit in Manhattan on Wednesday against AvalonBay Communities, one of the largest apartment developers in the United States, accusing the company of illegally discriminating against disabled people by failing to provide them with sufficient access at a 361-unit rental building on the Lower East Side.
In a statement, the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York said the case was “the government’s first lawsuit in Manhattan alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act in the design and construction of multifamily housing.”
The lawsuit concerns Avalon Chrystie Place, at 229 Chrystie Street, between East Houston and Stanton Streets. Opened in 2005 at a cost of $149 million, it was constructed on a formerly desolate site in what was known as the Cooper Square Urban Renewal Area. A Whole Foods Market is on the ground level of the building, which includes a rooftop deck, a fitness center and a residents’ lounge with a pool table.
FULL STORY in The New York Times
Fair Housing Act tested in Las Cruces
(LAS CRUCES, N.M., Aug. 13, 2008)
-- A Las Cruces grandmother said she was denied housing at a mobile home park because the park manager heard kids in the background of a phone call with her.
A lawsuit filed in federal court prevents the grandmother, Mary Hernandez, from being interviewed, but residents spoke out on her behalf.
“I would be offended if someone prevented me from moving into the area strictly because I had children or grandchildren,” said Connie Brittle of West Las Cruces.
Hernandez wanted to move into the Curry Mobile Home Park in North Las Cruces last year.
FULL STORY by KFOX-TV
HUD files discrimination charges against no-pet co-op
(ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y., Aug. 13, 2008)
-- The owners and board of a Rockville Centre no-pet co-op building violated a disabled senior's rights when they tried to evict the dog she keeps for emotional support, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said in filing discrimination charges.
Mary Pasko, 90, who is diagnosed with depression and lives with her daughter in the co-op, said her toy poodle Coco gives her a reason to get up from bed and barks when she knows her owner needs something.
"I don't think I'd be around if it wasn't for her," said Pasko, who has arthritis, a spinal disorder and other illnesses. "She's like medicine for me. If I have her with me, I seem to feel better."
Landlord is cited in housing discrimination case
(FITCHBURG, Mass., Aug. 12, 2008)
-- The office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said today that it has obtained a consent judgment against a Fitchburg landlord in a housing discrimination case.
According to Coakley's office, the property owner, Farag Mohamed, discriminated against a tenant and her children by terminating her tenancy because he did not want to comply with laws requiring him to de-lead the apartment for the safety of the children.
FULL STORY in The Boston Globe
Settlement reached in discrimination case
(BUFFALO, N.Y., Aug. 12, 2008)
-- Schuster Construction settled a housing discrimination case for allegedly refusing to rent a house to a family of eight.
Without any admission of wrongdoing, property owners Thomas and Christine Schuster agreed to pay the complainants nearly $5,000, take fair housing training for their staff, to add "Equal Housing Opportunity" logos to advertisements and formulate a written tenant selection plan, according to Housing Opportunities Made Equal.
A family of two parents and six children responded to an ad that read: "Winspear. 5 bedrooms, updated, new windows, new bath, $1,100 + utilities. Perfect for students." When the mother called, she was told the bedrooms in the house were only available to college girls, HOME reported.
FULL STORY in Buffalo Business First
Stonegate Apartments settle discrimination case for $70,000
(SACRAMENTO, Calif., Aug. 11, 2008)
-- Owners of Stonegate Apartments in Citrus Heights reached a $70,000 out-of-court settlement with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in a discrimination case, the department announced Monday.
The owners had been accused of refusing to provide a ground-floor unit to a tenant who had been injured and disabled.
The owners also agreed to receive training and develop an accommodation policy.
They did not admit to any wrongdoing.
FULL STORY in The Sacramento Business Journal
Lawsuit says real estate company is anti-children
(LAS CRUCES, N.M., Aug. 10, 2008)
-- A Las Cruces woman has sued a real estate company here, alleging she suffered discrimination when the company refused to rent a property to her after learning she had grandchildren.
Mary L. Hernandez of Las Cruces filed suit Wednesday in federal court, against Monarch Real Estate Corp.
The El Paso-based Border Fair Housing and Economic Justice Center, a civil rights group that emphasizes fair housing practices, is handling the lawsuit on her behalf.
FULL STORY in The Las Cruces Sun-News
Legal housing discrimination?
(RACINE, Wisc., Aug. 10, 2008)
-- The Housing Authority of Racine County issues more than $7 million per year to provide housing assistance to more than 1,500 low-income county residents.
But there is a catch.
Landlords do not legally have to accept people on housing assistance, which the city’s fair housing director feels is discrimination and contributes to clustering of low-income renters.
Declining vouchers is a choice that landlords say they make because they don’t want to deal with paperwork or inspections, or with tenants who are not paying their own rent.
FULL STORY in The Journal Times
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