Nevada Landlord Who Placed Ads Indicating Preference For Adult Tenants, & Who Refused To Rent Single Family Home To Family Because They Had Young Kids Gets Tagged With Fair Housing/Discrimination Suit By Civil Rights Feds
- The Justice Department [] filed a lawsuit against the owners of rental properties in Carson City, Nevada, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act.
he lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, charges that Betty Brinson and Hughston Brinson, the owners of a single-family rental home, discriminated against families with children by placing a series of advertisements in the local newspaper indicating a preference for adult tenants, and by refusing to rent the home to a family with three children because they did not want children living at the property.
The suit also alleges that Ms. Brinson placed discriminatory advertisements for another property she owns – a 36-unit apartment complex – indicating a preference for adult tenants.
The lawsuit arose as a result of a complaint filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) by the family who alleged they were refused the opportunity to rent the single-family home because they were a family with children. After HUD investigated the complaint, it issued a charge of discrimination and the matter was referred to the Justice Department.
The lawsuit seeks an order prohibiting the defendants from engaging in future unlawful discrimination. It also seeks the payment of a civil penalty and monetary damages for individuals who were refused the opportunity to rent because their children would be living with them.
For the lawsuit (including the alleged text of the newspaper ads that got these landlords in hot water), see USA v. Brinson.
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