 |
- Latest news item posted on 09/03/2010 at 10:04 AM
- Technical problems: Our upgrade to a newer version of ColdFusion has resulted in some bugs that will have to be worked out. Thank you for your patience.
- Submit a job announcement, news item, press release or event info.
- Please welcome our new partner, the Fair Housing Council of Suburban Philadelphia.
- New! We have the full text of cases announced in the newly revived Fair Housing-Fair Lending bulletin. If you are a subscriber to our case database, you can just enter the FH-FL case number to view it. (If you're not, you should be!)
If you don't yet subscribe to Fair Housing-Fair Lending, visit Equitas Media to get your subscription.
- Attention fair housing agencies: Our agency finder now allows us to tell web site users your service area. Please feel free to contact us so that we can add that information to your record. If we don't have you in our agency finder yet, please use the contact form to tell us about you!
Ravenna apartment complex accused of discrimination
(RAVENNA, Ohio, Sep. 03, 2010)
-- The owners of a Ravenna apartment complex have been accused of housing discrimination by federal officials for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to families with small children, in violation of federal housing laws.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has accused Testa Family Enterprises LTD, owners of the Royal Arms Apartments complex at 145 Van Buren Ave., of violating the Fair Housing Act.
Federal law prohibits housing discrimination based on familial status, including against families with children.
HUD charges that a single mother with two children recently responded to an advertisement for a two-bedroom apartment in the complex, which is managed by Christine Testa. After telling Testa she had two young children, the mother said Testa told her she did not rent to people with small children and would not allow the mother to view the apartment, according to HUD.
The mother contacted the Akron-based Fair Housing Advocates Association, which conducted three telephone tests to investigate her claims. During the tests, Testa allegedly made statements "indicating a preference against renting to families with young children and/or refused to rent to the tester based on the age of the children present in the household," according to FHAA and HUD.
FULL STORY at recordpub.com
Discrimination lawsuit against major Palm Beach housing provider
(PALM BEACH, Fla, Sep. 03, 2010)
-- Fair Housing Center of the Greater Palm Beaches Announces Federal Lawsuit against
Major Housing Provider in Western Palm Beach County At 11:00 a.m. today Fair Housing Center of the Greater Palm Beaches, Inc. (FHC) will announce the filing of a federal discrimination lawsuit against one of the largest private housing providers in the Glades area of Palm Beach County.
The FHC will disclose details of the Fair Housing Act lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The complaint in the case describes allegations of one of the most blatant acts of housing discrimination the FHC has ever investigated.
The FHC's involvement began after the organization received complaints about the housing provider forcing all of the families with children to vacate its apartment complex in Pahokee.
FULL STORY at cbs12.com
HIV-positive reverend settles suit with retirement home
(LITTLE ROCK, Ark, Sep. 02, 2010)
-- A former minister settled his lawsuit against an assisted-living facility that evicted him after they found he was HIV-positive.
The Reverend Dr. Robert Franke wanted to be closer to daughter Sara Franke Bowling in Little Rock, Ark., so he applied to live at Fox Ridge, an assisted-living facility. He moved in after fulfilling residency requirements, but after it was discovered that he is HIV-positive, Franke was abruptly ejected from his home, according to Lambda Legal, which took on his case.
Franke and Bowling sued the facility under the Fair Housing Act, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and state laws.
FULL STORY at advocate.com
55-and-up age restriction challenged in Wash. town
(RYDERWOOD, Wash., Aug. 29, 2010)
-- This Southwest Washington community has long been reserved for 55-and-older retirees, but recent rulings by a federal court judge have imperiled that status - and worsened tensions in the tiny, unincorporated town.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma ruled in June that Ryderwood has violated the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with young children, and this month he issued an injunction ordering Ryderwood to stop enforcing the age restriction and to stop advertising itself as a 55-and-older community.
The Daily News of Longview reports that the rulings have contributed to a worsening rift in the 270-home town, located at the end of State Highway 506 in Cowlitz County.
The lawsuit was brought by about 50 residents who wanted to be able to sell their homes to anyone - not just to older people - and opponents of the age restriction say they've been harassed.
FULL STORY at seattlepi.com
Willborn race-bias case heads to Justice Dept.
(CHICAGO, Aug. 26, 2010)
-- The U.S. Justice Department has been asked to take up the case of Chicago radio personality George Willborn, who allegedly was the victim of racial discrimination because of his family’s failed efforts to buy a home in Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development filed a federal housing discrimination complaint this month against Bridgeport homeowners Daniel and Adrienne Sabbia, Prudential Rubloff Properties and real estate agent Jeffrey Lowe. HUD said they violated the Fair Housing Act when the Sabbias backed out of a verbal agreement to sell the $1.799 million home to the Willborns, who are African-American.
The matter could have been handled as an administrative case by HUD or in the federal court system by the Justice Department. The Willborns elected to transfer the matter to Justice, which will decide within 30 days whether to file a suit. If it does, the Willborns could be eligible to receive punitive damages as well as compensatory damages from a jury.
Separately, the Willborns filed their own civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Chicago Thursday against the Sabbias, Prudential Rubloff Properties and Lowe’s The Lowe Group. Any Justice case could be consolidated with the Willborn’s suit in federal court.
FULL STORY at chicagobreakingbusiness.com
|
