Recent HUD Fair Housing Discrimination Actions - Families With Children

In Washington, D.C., the Department of Housing & Urban Development recently announced the commencement of the following administrative actions against landlords for alleged discriminatory conduct against families with children:

• HUD Charges Pennsylvania Landlord w/ Discriminating Against Families w/ Children (charging a Pennsylvania landlord with housing discrimination for allegedly refusing to rent apartments to families with children. HUD’s charge alleges that the owner, who owns and manages rental properties and formerly owned a four-unit building in Coopersburg, posted an online classified ad for one of his Coopersburg units that discouraged families with children from applying. Specifically, the ad read: “Not suitable for children due to the exterior landing and stairs.” Read HUD’s administrative complaint):
  
  According the HUD’s charge, a female tester posing as the mother of a four-year-old told DeRomo that she would be sharing the apartment with her daughter. After being told about the child, DeRomo allegedly told the tester that the ad stated “no kids” because the stairwell landing was not secure and he did not feel comfortable renting the unit to the family due to safety concerns for the child.
  
  Meanwhile, DeRomo gave a tester who said she had no children a tour of the unit and a rental application. DeRomo ultimately rented the unit to an applicant without children. DeRomo allegedly stated that he has not allowed any family to live in the two second-floor apartments of the Coopersburg building due to the landing and the stairs.
  
  For story update, see Coopersburg landlord settles housing discrimination charge ("Michael DeRomo, who formerly owned a four-unit building on the 700 block of Tilghman Street in Coopersburg, has agreed to pay [a settlement of] $2,330.86 to the Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania, according to documents provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
  
  The settlement, in which DeRomo admits no fault or liability, the documents say, eliminates the need for an administrative hearing. The charge against DeRomo has been dismissed, the records state."):
  
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• HUD Charges Texas Landlords w/ Discrimination For Imposing Overly Restrictive Rules On Families w/ Children (charging the former owner and manager of Pebble Beach Apartments, a 61-unit complex in Universal City, Texas, with violating the Fair Housing Act by imposing overly restrictive rules on children under 16 who lived there. HUD also charged the current management company, and the current owner of the complex with discriminating based on familial status. Read HUD’s administrative complaint):
  
  Specifically, HUD’s charge alleges that Pebble Beach’s rules discriminated against families by prohibiting children under the age of 16 from being in their home without an adult, using the laundry facilities without an adult present, using the pool without an adult present, or using their scooters or bikes on the street and parking lots without an adult. HUD’s charge further alleges that residents were told that parking lots were not to be used as playgrounds and that if children were left playing “in the street” with bikes, scooters, etc. they would be given a 24-hour notice to vacate.
  
  (Editor's Note: The Fair Housing Council of Greater San Antonio, a non-profit housing rights advocacy agency filed an initial complaint with HUD after it conducted its own probe, using fair housing testers to gather evidence of possible discrimination.)