December 5, 2019 | Categories: Familial Status, Rental
The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan along with three other private non-profit Michigan fair housing groups announce the resolution of a complaint based on familial status discrimination, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, filed against Monarch Investment & Management Group LLC.
The other fair housing groups are The Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit, The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan, and the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan.
Monarch is a property investment and management company with properties in twenty states. In Michigan, Monarch owns and/or manages 36 properties with over 9,000 units.
The complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) alleged that Monarch engaged in systemic discrimination against families with children by enforcing an overly-restrictive occupancy policy of no more than two people per bedroom regardless of a unit’s square footage.
In 2017, the Michigan FHC’s conducted an investigation of Monarch properties in 14 separate locations throughout Michigan. Through the use of testing, the Michigan FHC’s determined about 30 different floor plans were large enough under state and local law to accommodate more occupants than the “two person per bedroom” rule enforced by Monarch agents. In fact, at one of the properties, the master bedroom was 320 square feet, which would itself be legally large enough to house six people, yet Monarch enforced the same restrictions.
In February 2018, a HUD complaint was filed on behalf of the by FHC Counsel Jia Cobb of Relman, Dane & Colfax.
In September 2019, the parties entered into a conciliation agreement in which Monarch agreed to pay $130,000 for the Michigan Fair Housing Centers’ costs and damages, change their occupancy policy so that it is no more restrictive than the applicable local occupancy code, and train their employees and agents on fair housing laws and responsibilities, along with other terms to ensure compliance with fair housing laws. HUD did not make a determination on the merits of the allegations.