Tenant, Non-Profit To Split $30K For Settlement Of DOJ Fair Housing Racial Discrimination Suit; Feds Pocket $5K In Penalties

From the U.S. Department of Justice:

• The Justice Department announced [] that Orland Park, Ill., property owner Terence Flanagan has agreed to pay $35,000 in monetary damages and civil penalties to settle consolidated Fair Housing Act lawsuits against him. The lawsuits alleged that Flanagan discriminated against a family that tried to rent a single-family home from him, and that Flanagan made repeated statements to fair housing testers expressing a preference not to rent the home to African-Americans.

• [The] settlement, which has been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, resolves a lawsuit filed by the department and one filed by Kemal Majied and the South Suburban Housing Center, a private fair housing organization, against Flanagan in late 2009.

• Mr. Majied, who is African-American, and his family unsuccessfully sought to rent a single-family home that Flanagan had advertised for rent and contacted the South Suburban Housing Center for assistance. Both the Housing Center and the department later sent fair housing testers to the property, where Flanagan stated he would rent the house to a white tester for $100 less than the advertised rate, and further stated “you’re not black, that’s the reason you’re getting that.”

For the DOJ press release, see Justice Department Obtains $35,000 Discrimination Settlement Against Chicago-area Landlord.