New Jersey Fair Housing Advocate Shakes $30K Out Of Landlord To Settle Housing Discrimination Allegations

From the Office of the New Jersey Attorney General:

• The Division on Civil Rights announced [...] that the owners of a Somerset County apartment complex have paid $30,000 to the Fair Housing Council of Northern Jersey to settle charges the complex engaged in racial and other types of unlawful discrimination while dealing with testers it believed were prospective tenants.(1)

For the entire NJ AG press release, see Division on Civil Rights Announces Settlement of Discrimination Complaint Involving Treatment of Testers at Apartment Complex.

For the settlement agreement and Division on Civil Rights complaint, see Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey v. Kimberwyck Village.

(1) According to the press release, the Fair Housing Council sent a total of nine testers into Kimberwyck Village in 2007 and 2008. A subsequent complaint filed with the Division in October 2008 charged that Kimberwyck employees showed an obvious preference toward white testers they believed were prospective tenants. Specifically, the complaint charged, Kimberwyck staffers showed white testers cleaner, more ready-for-occupancy dwellings, presented the complex’s rental terms and income requirements in the most attractive light, and in one case offered to “hold” a rental unit for a white tester.

Meanwhile, the Complaint charged, Kimberwyck employees showed African-American testers less clean and well-maintained rental units, neglected to mention certain favorable rental terms that had been mentioned to white testers and did not offers to hold rental units for them. In addition, the complaint alleged that Kimberwyck employees made disparaging remarks to testers about other minorities, including Mexicans and Indians. Specifically, one Kimberwyck employee remarked about the financial unreliability of Mexican rental applicants, and used a slur to refer to Indian tenants.

In addition to charging race-based and national-origin-based discrimination, the Fair Housing Council complaint also charged Kimberwyck with unlawfully discriminating against families. For example, testers who inquired about rental options for families with children were told that tenants with children must rent two-bedroom apartments because children were prohibited from living in one-bedroom apartments or in upstairs units. Under the settlement agreement, there is no acknowledgment of wrongdoing by Kimberwyck or Kimberwyck Associates.