Fair Housing

2007-2008

Cases, reports and unusual

happenings in the world of Fair
Housing since last year’s
conference
 Who am I?

Tony Baize
 Editor of the National Fair Housing
Advocate legal journal
 Executive Director of National Alliance on
Mental Illness – Louisville
 Former executive director of the Kentucky
Fair Housing Council
 April 2007

Campos v. Barney G., Inc.

 Owner of a mobile home park in Nebraska
refuses to supply water, trash pickup or
dead animal removal to residents, all of
whom are Latino. Landlord files lawsuit
against tenants when they file
discrimination complaints. Landlord
doesn’t show up for court and is ordered to
pay $350,000.
 April 2007

Housing Rights Center v. Cho

 Southern California landlord and managers
found to repeatedly discourage African
American applicants while encouraging
white and Asian American applicants.
Manager asked one white applicant, “Are
you a nice white girl?” The applicant
notified HRC. Cho paid $100,000 to settle.
 April 2007

NCRC v. Aegis Mortgage

 Houston-based Aegis Mortgage refuses top
write loans on Native American
reservations, for group care homes for
persons with disabilities, and for “row
homes.” Aegis settles for $475,000 and
policy changes. Aegis closes its doors on
August 6, 2007.
 April 2007

NCRC v. Aegis Mortgage

 What’s a row house or row home?

Pittsburgh, PA Boston, MA

More likely to be located in older, inner

city neighborhoods
Baltimore, MD
 April 2007

HUD announces FY2006 has highest number of fair

housing complaints ever
 10,328 complaints
 40% disability discrimination
 39% racial discrimination
 14% familial status
 14% national origin (65% of these were from Latinos)
 11% sex
 2% religion
 1% color
 Percentages exceed 100%, because many complaints allege
multiple bases of discrimination
 See the FY2006 report at
http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/fy2006rpt.pdf
 April 2007
(close enough)
 April 2007

Justice Dept. identifies second murder

suspect in Fla. Homeless killings
 In 1998, two Florida skinheads attempted
to kill two homeless men to get “in the
web.” Skinheads who kill someone get
spider-web tattoos as a badge of honor.
According to the SPLC, skinheads and
other hate groups are increasingly
targeting the homeless.
 April 2007

Justice Dept. settles sexual harassment

suit in Knoxville (U.S. v. Brewer)
 According to the DOJ complaint, landlord
William E. Brewer made unwanted sexual
advances toward at least nine female
tenants. He and his wife paid $125,000
to settle.
 April 2007

Justice Dept. settles group home suit in

Illinois (U.S. v. Fleetwood Capital Dev.)
 Springfield, Ill. developer refused to sell
new home lot to Bethesda, a group that
provides home-based care to persons with
developmental disabilities. Fleetwood
settles for $60,000. Bethesda won a
similar case in Wisconsin in 2003.
 May 2007

U.S. v. Matsuoff (S.D. Ohio)

 Xenia, Ohio landlord asks employees to
racially code applications, refuse repairs to
African American tenants, fires managers
who rent to African Americans, and
enforces anti-children rules. Complaints
filed in 1994, trial in 2003, ruling in
2007.
 Landlord ordered to pay $535,000.
 May 2007

Federal judge in Wisconsin rules “There are

no kids in this building” might be the
statement of a child-loving saint.
 U.S. v. Walter Perlick Family Trust et al. (Case No. 05-C-
0934 E.D. Wisc.)
 U.S. Dist. Judge Stadtmueller wrote, “(A) landlord who
loves children may say, ‘sadly, no kids live in the
building, but the neighborhood is great for children
because there are parks and schools nearby.’ Such a
statement would not convey a preference to rent to
persons without children.” (denied summary judgment)
 May 2007

Fair Housing Council of the San

Fernando Valley v. Roommate.com (9th
Cir.)
 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the
Communications Decency Act does not
offer complete immunity to web site
operators.
May 2007
 June 2007

HUD adds two new building codes to

accessibility “safe harbor” list
 International Building Code (IBC) 2006
 International Code Council (ICC) 2003
 June 2007

Klansman convicted of 1964 murders

 James Ford Seale was convicted of
kidnapping and conspiracy in the 1964
deaths of two black teenagers in southwest
Mississippi. Charles Eddie Moore and Henry
Hezekiah Dee, both 19-year-olds,
disappeared from Franklin County on May
2, 1964, and their bodies were found later
in the Mississippi River.
 June 2007

Ky. Fair Housing Council v. WKB

Associates (W.D. Ky.)
 U.S. Dist. Judge John Heyburn awards an
additional $47,000 in attorneys fees after
the defendants failed in their appeal.
(More about this later.)
 July 2007

HUD creates “Fair Lending Division”

within Office of Fair Housing
 Approximately 5.5% of all fair housing
complaints filed with HUD and FHAP
agencies involve lending discrimination
 July 2007

U.S. v. Palazzolo (E.D. Mich.)

 Michigan developers agree to pay
$146,000 to settle complaint that “The
Preserves” condos are not accessible to
persons with disabilities.
 August 2007

U.S. v. Bathrick (D. Minn.)

 Minnesota landlord agrees to pay $400,000
for allegedly sexually harassing at least 12
of his female tenants. Bathrick allegedly
preyed upon low-income women with
children, threatening them with
homelessness if they did not submit to his
sexual advances.
 August 2007

The sad, strange case of HUD v. Wooten

(Cook County, Ill.)
 Sept. 1998: Sheila White files complaint with HUD after
landlord tells her she won’t rent to an unmarried woman
with children
 April 2001: HUD finds probable cause and issues charge
of discrimination
 July 2003: White files motion for summary judgment
 February 2004: HUD ALJ Robert Andretta holds hearing
in the case; Wooten fails to appear, despite being served
 December 2004: Judge Andretta issues finding and
order in favor of Wooten
 Jan. 2005: HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson declines to
reverse or modify Andretta’s decision
 August 2007

The sad, strange case of HUD v. Wooten (Cook

County, Ill.) contined
 June 2005: White files appeal with 7th Circuit; DOJ represents
HUD in opposing the appeal
 April 2006: Gertie Wooten dies
 Feb. 2007: 7th Circuit reverses HUD’s decision; orders HUD to
award damages to White
 March 2007: ALJ Andretta retires; transfers case to ALJ Arthur
Liberty
 May 2007: ALJ Liberty refuses to award damages to White;
saying HUD lacks authority to do so
 May 2007: White and her attorney file a writ of mandamus
against Liberty and Secretary Jackson
 August 2007: Liberty awards $12,000 to White
 August 2007

Stein v. Braum Investment and

Development Inc.
 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that a loss
in a state eviction action does not prevent
plaintiff from filing a federal Fair Housing
Act claim.
 September 2007

Garcia v. Brockway (9th Cir.)

 Appeals court holds that violations of the
Fair Housing Act’s accessibility provisions
are not “continuing violations” until
corrected.
 September 2007

Kennedy v. City of Zanesville (S.D. Ohio)

 Federal judge rules that African American

families have enough evidence to proceed

to trial in case alleging housing
discrimination based on 50 years of denial
of municipal water. (Denied SJ for Defs)
 October 2007

Schwarz v. City of Treasure Island

(M.D. Fla.)
 Federal judge rules that city does not have
to allow persons with disabilities and
landlords to enter into short-term leases in
residential zones where they are
prohibited.
 October 2007

U.S. v. Sarasota County(M.D. Fla.)

 County agrees to pay $760,000 to
operators of Tammi House (group homes
for recovering alcoholics and drug addicts)
after changing zoning laws to cap number
of unrelated residents in a home at four,
and denying reasonable accommodation
requests for exemptions.
 November 2007

National Fair Housing Alliance v.

GuideOne Insurance (N.D. Ohio)
 The National Fair Housing Alliance and
others sue GuideOne Insurance over its
“FaithGuard” policies.
 November 2007

National Fair Housing Alliance v. Town

& Country Realty (E.D. Mich.)
 Town & Country Realty sues the National
Fair Housing Alliance for “defamation” and
“tortious interference.”
U.S. v. 1st Nat’l Bank of Pontotoc (N.D. Miss.)
 Bank agrees to pay $350,000 after VP allegedly
sexually harasses at least 15 female applicants
 November 2007

Louisville Metro Human Relations

Commission v. Graoch Assoc. (6th Cir.)
 The Sixth Circuit reversed a district court
decision holding that a complex’s
withdrawal from Section 8 could never be
used as a basis for a disparate impact
complaint of racial discrimination.
However . . . .
 November 2007

High Plains Community Development

Corp. v. Dr. Joann Schaefer (D. Neb)
 The Chief Medical Officer of the state of
Nebraska is not immune from Fair Housing
Act lawsuits.
HUD v. Ridgecrest Apts. (St. Louis, MO)
 Complex owners agree to pay $170,000 for
enforcing rules like “no kids outside.”
 December 2007

Matyasovszky v. Bridgeport Housing

Authority (Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities)
 Housing authority agrees to pay $760,000
to persons with disabilities after illegally
excluding them from housing designated as
“elderly and disabled.”
 December 2007

Jackson v. Novastar Mortgage (W.D.

Tenn.)
 Federal judge denies defendants’ motion to
dismiss Memphis woman’s claims that
Novstar and its subsidiaries and affiliates
targeted their radio ads for
suprime/predatory loans to African
Americans
 December 2007

KY Fair Housing Council v. WKB (S. Ct.)

 Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal in this case,
leaving in place the 6th Circuit decision, which –
among other things – upheld the standing of fair
housing groups to sue developers, the statute of
limitations in accessibility cases begins to run after
the completion of each individual sale or rental,
and developers must show that units are
accessible by some reasonable standard.
 January 2008

City of Baltimore v. Wells Fargo Bank

 The city alleges that Wells Fargo forecloses
on homes more often in neighborhoods
where African Americans are in the
majority, claiming that two out of every
three foreclosed homes were in majority
African American neighborhoods.
 January 2008

Del Boca Vista v. City of Delray Beach (S.D. Fla.)

 City agrees to pay $150,000 to developers
of groups care homes for older persons
with disabilities after the city refused to
issue building permits.
Martinez v. Partch (D. Colo.)
 Federal judge rules that Fair Housing Act
does not prohibit discrimination based on
citizenship status.
 February 2008

Greater New Orleans Fair Housing Action

Center v. St. Bernard Parish (S.D. La.)
 Following Hurricane Katrina, St. Bernard Parish passed an
ordinance limiting the rental of homes to “blood relatives”
of the landlord.
 St. Bernard is 86% white, according to the U.S. Census,
thus the ordinance limits the availability of rental housing
to African Americans and other minorities, including
residents of adjacent Orleans Parish which is 37% white.
 Feb. 2008 settlement for $32,500 to GNOFHAC and
repeal of rental ordinance.
 January 2008

United States v.Pine Properties (D. Mass.)

 Owners of 13 rental properties in Massachusetts
agreed to pay $150,000 for requiring employment
verifications for applicants of Cambodian descent
but not for whites.
Fair Housing Council of Orange County v.
Luke (C.D. Calif.)
 Property owner pays $270,000 to settle federal
lawsuit alleging managers evicted Latino tenants
in order to rent units to tenants of Vietnamese
descent.
 March 2008

Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

Under the Law, Inc. v. Craigslist (7th Cir.)
 Court of appeals affirms District Court ruling that
the Communications Decency Act prevents web
site operators for being sued for Fair Housing Act
violations based on ads created by third-party
users.
 Differs from Roommates.com (9th Cir.) in that
craigslist engaged in no editing or development of
content
 March 2008

United States v. District of Columbia (D. D.C.)

 Federal judge rules that the District of Columbia
violated the Fair Housing Act when it refused to
grant exemptions to Father Flanagan’s Boys Town
to run group homes for disabled children.
 Judge refuses to throw out D.C.’s zoning law,
which DOJ alleges treats housing for disabled
persons less favorably than other housing by
limiting number of persons and requiring
minimum distances between group care homes.
 March 2008

3-31-08: HUD Secretary Alphonso

Jackson resigns
 Closing remarks

The death of private nonprofit fair

housing groups: Montana, KY, NW IN
and many others
HUD, FHAP agencies and private
nonprofit fair housing groups are on the
same team