Tenant Pockets $4K; Landlord Accused Of Rejecting Children, Rent Subsidy In Separate Massachusetts AG Housing Discrimination Actions

In two separate legal actions, the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office announced this month:

• Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has obtained a consent judgment resolving claims that a Fitchburg landlord discriminated against a tenant and her children by terminating her tenancy because he did not want to comply with laws requiring him to de-lead the apartment for the safety of the children. The judgment [...] permanently prohibits the landlord, Farag Mohamed, from discriminating against tenants or any person applying for housing and requires the landlord to pay the victim $4,000.

***

• The complaint alleges that [...] Mohamed attempted to terminate the victim’s tenancy after a lead paint test revealed the presence of lead throughout the apartment where the victim and her three children resided. [...] The complaint alleges that Mohammed refused to abate the lead hazard and subsequently told the victim that he no longer wanted to work with Section 8, and asked her to move out of the apartment.(1)

For more, see AG Coakley Obtains Consent Judgment Against Fitchburg Property Owner in Housing Discrimination and Lead Paint Case.

In a second case:

• Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office filed a housing discrimination complaint against Inna Bogina, the owner of a three-bedroom rental property in Quincy, and her daughter Tatiana Bogina, the rental agent for the property. The complaint [...] alleges that the Boginas violated state antidiscrimination laws by refusing to rent to recipients of housing subsidies and a family with children.(2)

***

• According to the complaint, the Boginas twice refused to rent the Quincy property to women who held Section 8 federal housing subsidies, including a family with three children. [...] The complaint further alleges that the current tenant informed the victim that Tatiana Bogina told him she did not want to deal with "those kinds of people" and further stated that her family did not want to rent to people with children because they feared the children would "wreck the place."

For more, see AG Coakley Sues Quincy Landlord For Housing Discrimination.

(1) According to the AG's press release, under both Massachusetts lead paint law and the terms of the tenant’s Section 8 rental subsidy, administered by the Rural Community Assistance Program, the landlord is required to abate lead hazards. Under Massachusetts antidiscrimination law, it is illegal to discriminate against a person because he or she is a recipient of a housing subsidy or because of that person’s familial status. It is also illegal for a landlord to refuse to rent to someone because the landlord does not want to comply with the health and safety requirements of a housing subsidy program.

(2) According to the AG's press release, under Massachusetts law, it is illegal to discriminate against housing applicants because they receive public assistance. It is also illegal to discriminate against individuals who intend to reside with children.