US v. Fair Plaza Assoc.

No. CIV 02-1181 WJ/ACT (D. N.M. filed, Feb. 5, 2004) ; Clearinghouse Number: 55582

Description

New Mexico Apartment Owners and Managers Agree to Pay Damages to Plaintiffs Who Alleged Racial and Familial-Status Discrimination

Abstract

The district court entered a consent order in a case charging that defendant owners and managers of several apartment complexes in Albuquerque, New Mexico, discriminated against prospective tenants on the basis of race and familial status, in violation of the Fair Housing Act. Plaintiff United States and individuals who sought apartments alleged that defendants on several occasions told one prospective tenant that they would let him rent an apartment for himself but that his young child could not live with him because defendants did not rent to people with children. Plaintiff alleged that defendants rented an apartment in a different complex to a white tenant who said his fiancée would be moving to Albuquerque to join him; that the property manager first told the tenant that the fiancée could move in provided that she also signed the rental agreement; but that when the manager saw the fiancée, an African American, manager told the tenant that double rent would be charged and then gave him notice to vacate. In both instances, fair housing testers confirmed defendants’ discriminatory policies. The consent order enjoined defendants from discriminating on the basis of race or familial status; the order also directed them to adopt and implement written nondiscriminatory procedures for handling rental inquiries and applications, maintain records of inquiries, maintain waiting lists for apartments, refrain from restricting occupancy based on familial status (apart from imposing an occupancy limit of three persons for each one-bedroom apartment), undergo fair housing training, notify current tenants of the order, pay plaintiff-intervenors amounts ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, establish and publicize an $85,000 account to compensate other aggrieved persons, pay $4,000 to New Mexico Legal Aid’s Fair Housing Center, and pay a $10,000 civil penalty.

Additional Information

Attorney Information
Docket Date
2004-02-05 00:00:00+00:00

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