US Department of Justice files lawsuit alleging Condo Owner and Agents Discriminated against families

Dennis Norman

By:ia Dennis Norman

Honestly, I find it hard to believe that there are real estate agents out there that are not aware that it is illegal to discriminate against families with children. 

Over forty years ago Congress passed Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 known as “The Fair Housing Act“.  This act prohibits discrimination in public and private housing markets that is based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin and then in 1988 an amendment added “handicap and familial status” as well. 

So it’s been over 20 years ago that “familial” status was added as a protected class and yet there seem to be literally thousands of examples of violations of this.  Recently on the blog, Real Estate Investors Daily I did a post which highlighted this fact:

According to a recent report by the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) there are literally thousands of illegal housing advertisements appearing with impunity on the Internet every day.

Although I don’t have the data to back it up, my assumption about the above article was that a lot of these discriminatory ads were being run by owners and not real estate brokers and agents.  I also guessed that in many, if not most, cases the owners just didn’t have a clue that they could ban children from their properties. 

However, I continue to hear about cases of discrimination involving real estate agents.  In an effort to bring attention to this, and hopefully help prevent agents from violating the Fair Housing Act, I am doing this post and sharing information about a lawsuit just filed by the Department of Justice against a condominium owner as well as two real estate agents.

Before I get to the lawsuit, I want to share the definition of “familial status” from the fair housing act:

(k) “Familial status” means one or more individuals (who have not attained the age of 18 years) being domiciled with–

(1) a parent or another person having legal custody of such individual or individuals; or

(2) the designee of such parent or other person having such custody, with the written permission of such parent or other person.

 The protections afforded against discrimination on the basis of familial status shall apply to any person who is pregnant or is in the process of securing legal custody of any individual who has not attained the age of 18 years. 

Now for the information on the suit I referred to:  Yesterday, the Department of Justice released information that it filed a lawsuit against an Atlanta condominium association, as well as the owner of a unit and the real estate agent who sold it, for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against families with children.

The lawsuit charges that the Georgian Manor Condominium Association maintained policies discouraging families with children from living in the Georgian Manor complex, located at 3648 Peachtree Road in Atlanta. It also charges that the owner of a unit in the complex refused to sell to families with children and that the real estate agents hired to sell the unit, Jennifer Sherrouse and Harry Norman Realtors, publicized the restriction.

“Housing discrimination against families with children has been illegal for more than 20 years, but remains a persistent problem across the country” said Loretta King, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “We will continue to prosecute discrimination against families with children.”

This lawsuit arose as a result of a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by a fair housing group. The group encountered language in a real-estate listing for Georgian Manor stating “No pets or children.” After an investigation of the complaint, HUD issued a charge of discrimination and the defendants elected to have the case heard in federal court.

“Real estate advertising stating ‘No children’ is prohibited by federal protections for families with children. Together, HUD and the Justice Department will vigorously enforce the law,” stated John Trasviña, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity. “This lawsuit serves to educate the real estate professionals and landlords about the rights and responsibilities under the federal Fair Housing Act.”

The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting future discrimination by the defendants, monetary damages for the complainants and a civil penalty. It also seeks monetary damages for other persons harmed by the defendants’ actions.

Agents, brokers, property managers: If you do not have a full and comprehensive understanding of the Fair Housing Act then I would suggest you spend time to get up to speed on it.  The time will be well spent and could help you avoid a lot of expensive problems in the future.  A good place to start would be the Fair Housing Page on the Department of Justice website.

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