Cases and Settlements

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There are two basic ways you, as a landlord, can be liable for housing discrimination:

• You commit discrimination personally; and/or
• Your agents commit discrimination in the course of carrying out their employment duties or otherwise pursuing your interests.

The latter is known as “vicarious liability,” and a recent case from Mississippi is an excellent example of how it can play out in the fair housing context.

HUD has accused an Oklahoma landlord and its property manager of discriminating against tenants by failing to adequately respond to known serious racial harassment and by retaliating by trying to terminate their tenancy.

Washington, D.C., Attorney General Karl Racine recently announced a settlement requiring three real estate firms and its executives to pay a landmark $10 million in penalties for illegally discriminating against renters in the District who use Section 8 housing vouchers and other forms of housing assistance. This is the largest civil penalty in a housing discrimination case in U.S. history.

A not-for-profit group advocating against housing discrimination sued a New York landlord for violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and the New York State Human Rights Law (NYSHRL) based on refusal to rent to a prospective tenant with limited English proficiency (LEP). The group claimed that the landlord discriminated against a prospective tenant whose primary language was Spanish. The landlord wouldn't rent an apartment to this tenant unless someone who spoke English lived with her at the building. The group also had several testers inquire about rentals with similar results.

HUD recently announced that an Administrative Law Judge found that a Long Island landlord violated the Fair Housing Act when he refused to rent to a mother and her daughter because of the daughter’s cerebral palsy. The judge ordered the owner to pay $50,530 in damages to the family and a $20,111 civil penalty to the United States. The judge said the landlord’s behavior “merits imposition of a maximum civil penalty.”

HUD recently announced that it’s charging the owner and manager of a Florida RV park with discriminating against a former tenant because of her gender identity. The charge alleges that the owner violated the Fair Housing Act when he gave the tenant a letter stating that he was aware she was transitioning and telling her to act as a man, talk as a man, and dress as a man to avoid trouble [HUD v. 21 Palms RV Resort, Inc. and Nathan Dykgraaf, FHEO No. 04-21-5434-8].

HUD recently announced that it has entered into a Conciliation Agreement with California property owners, a property management company, and a property manager, resolving allegations that they discriminated against an interracial married couple on the basis of race and disability. A former employee of the property allegedly made discriminatory statements and refused to provide an accessible parking space for the husband.

Twenty-three owners and apartment brokers in New York City recently agreed to enact reforms to resolve a lawsuit alleging that they routinely turned away prospective tenants seeking to use federal vouchers to supplement their rent. Originally filed in March 2022, the lawsuit claimed that 88 owners and brokers in the city had repeatedly rejected tenants with Section 8 vouchers in possible violation of state and local housing laws.

In March, the Maine Human Rights Commission found evidence that an assisted living provider violated state nondiscrimination protections when it denied an applicant a room because she is a transgender woman.

HUD recently announced that it has approved a Conciliation Agreement with a Las Vegas landlord and his property manager to resolve allegations of discrimination brought by a prospective tenant with a disability. The prospect had filed a fair housing complaint alleging that she was denied the opportunity to rent a house because she had a dog who served as her assistance animal.