Landlords Discriminating Against Families w/ Young Kids In Attempt To Skirt State Lead Paint Clean-Up Requirements Continue Feeling Mass. AG Wrath

From the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office obtained a consent judgment against a Boston-based realty company, and its agent, resolving claims that the company refused to rent an apartment to a tester from the Boston Fair Housing Commission posing as a woman with a three-year old child whose presence would require abatement of lead paint hazards under state law. The consent judgment orders the defendants to pay a total of $5,000 to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Boston-based Lead Action Collaborative and bars the defendants from future acts of discrimination.(1)

According to the AG press release, the Massachusetts Anti-Discrimination Act prohibits real estate companies, agents, landlords and others involved in property rentals, from discriminating against families. In addition, the Massachusetts Lead Paint Statute requires landlords who rent to families with children under the age of six to abate lead hazards in a rental unit in order to prevent lead poisoning. It is illegal to discriminate against families with children in order to avoid compliance with the lead paint law.

For the Massachusetts AG press release, see Coakley Enters into Settlement to Address Alleged Discrimination Against a Woman and Her Young Child by a Boston Real Estate Company.

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In a separate case from the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General:

• Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has obtained a consent judgment in a housing discrimination case against the owner of a three-unit building located in Everett, who is accused of violating state anti-discrimination laws for refusing to de-lead an apartment after learning that a long-time tenant was pregnant. The judgment requires the landlord to pay the victim $10,000 and prohibits her from discriminating against any person because they have a child, whose presence would trigger her obligations under the lead paint laws, or otherwise discriminate against any person in violation of state and federal fair housing laws.(2)

For the Massachusetts AG press release, see Coakley Obtains Consent Judgment Against Everett Landlord for Discriminating And Retaliating Against Family with a Young Child to Avoid Lead Paint Obligations.

(1) According to the complaint, the fair housing tester inquired about an apartment advertised on Craigslist. After the tester informed the agent that she had a three-year old child, the agent refused to show her the apartment unless she agreed to sign a waiver that purported to absolve the owner of the unit from liability due to any lead paint found in the apartment.

(2) According to the complaint, the tenants notified the landlord several months advance that they were having their first child and were worried about possible lead hazards, but she refused to do an inspection or remove any lead hazards before or after the child was born. The tenants then complained to the Everett Board of Health, who ordered her to comply with the lead paint laws. After receiving the order, she allegedly called the tenants and yelled at them and threatened to increase their rent. Days later, the landlord sent them a letter with a 50 percent rent increase as retaliation for reporting her to the city. The rent increase was directed only at the tenants who complained. She failed to abate the lead until one year after first being informed of the impending birth, and only after being ordered to do so by the Board. The tenants were forced to live in fear that their child would get lead poisoning and had to dramatically alter their lives to avoid harm to their child.