Cases and Settlements

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Last month, a state court in New York overturned a ruling that would have forced a resident to move out because of an alleged hoarding problem. The community, which received a project-based Section 8 subsidy, filed the case, but proceedings were delayed several times to give the resident more time to clean up the unit. Ultimately, the parties agreed to a settlement requiring the resident to move out unless the unit passed an inspection on a specific date, in which event he could remain for another six weeks.

HUD recently charged a rental housing owner in New Mexico with unlawfully refusing to grant reasonable modification requests to a resident with a disability. The Fair Housing Act prohibits landlords from refusing to let tenants, at their own expense, make reasonable modifications to a rental property, as well as from refusing to make reasonable accommodations in rules, policies, practices, or services.

The Justice Department recently sued a Florida homeowners association and its former management company, accusing them of discriminating against families with children by imposing overly restrictive occupancy standards at the 249-townhome community. The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants violated fair housing law by threatening to evict a couple and their six minor children from the four-bedroom townhome they were renting.

HUD recently announced that it reached a settlement with a Pennsylvania community for allegedly discriminating against Burmese refugee families because of their national origin.

Last week, the owners, managers, and superintendent of a 72-unit community in Riverdale, N.Y., agreed to a $75,000 settlement to resolve allegations of discrimination against African-American apartment seekers in violation of the Fair Housing Act, according to an announcement the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

The owner and manager of dozens of residential rental properties in Bakersfield, Calif., recently agreed to pay more than $2 million to settle allegations that he sexually harassed female prospects and residents. This represents the largest monetary settlement ever agreed to in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by the Justice Department under the Fair Housing Act.

HUD recently charged a Florida homeowners association (HOA) and its former management company with violating the Fair Housing Act by subjecting a family to different rental terms and conditions because they have six children.

HUD recently charged a New Hampshire real estate agent and his company with illegally discriminating against families with children. Under the Fair Housing Act, it’s unlawful to deny housing because someone has children or to make statements that indicate a limitation on renting to someone because he or she has children.

Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its largest-ever disability-based housing discrimination settlement, which resolves allegations that a Texas-based developer and affiliated entities discriminated on the basis of disability in the design and construction of multifamily housing complexes throughout the United States. The complaint alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act’s (FHA’s) design and construction standards and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

A Boston-based real estate management company, its property manager, and a multifamily housing owner have been sued for violating the state’s antidiscrimination law for allegedly refusing to rent to a recipient of a federal housing subsidy, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced earlier this month. The complaint alleged that the defendants refused to rent to a prospective tenant because he intended to use a Section 8 affordable housing voucher to pay for the rent.