Cleared of Discrimination Charge, Landlord Must Ante Up $50,000 for Subsequent Retaliation
A landlord accused of gender discrimination was cleared of that charge, yet still faces of fine of over $50,000 for attempting to evict the single mother who filed a fair housing complaint.
The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to retaliate against individuals because they exercised their fair housing rights, which include requesting an investigation of suspected discriminatory practices.
The mother of three filed a housing discrimination complaint against the landlord alleging that he refused to rent her a three-bedroom apartment and unjustly charged her a higher security deposit because of her sex.?
Upon investigation, the housing authority found no evidence of gender discrimination.
However, the landlord was later charged with unlawfully retaliating against the tenant by terminating her lease and attempting to evict her because she had filed a housing discrimination complaint.
An Administrative Law Judge awarded the tenant and her family $20,150 in damages and assessed a total civil penalty of $32,000 against the landlord and his management corporation.
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The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.
