Jennifer L. Daugherty contacted the Fair Housing Center in August 2016 to file a sexual harassment complaint against her Ypsilanti Township landlord, Michael Carpenter. Ms. Daugherty stated that she had been receiving unwelcome texts at all times of the day and night, unannounced visits, and other unwanted attention from her landlord for over a year. The defendant harassed and intimidated her, repeatedly asking her to go out with him, spend time with him, and even going as far as to leave a present under her pillow while she was away.
Ms. Daugherty’s text responses varied from “no” to “stop this” to several months of ignoring his constant demands and sexual innuendos. According to the lawsuit, “Defendant twice initiated eviction proceedings against Daugherty in retaliation for Daugherty’s refusals to enter into a relationship with Defendant, and thus grant him sexual favors.” Ms. Daughtery wanted to continue to live in the apartment only because she needed to help care for her grandmother, who lived next door and was afflicted with Alzheimer’s.
The lawsuit states that Mr. Carpenter most recently gave her a notice to vacate on September 5, 2016, after watching her leave her apartment with another man and texting her that he would no longer rent to her. Worried about her safety, Ms. Daugherty filed a police report at that time. Ms. Daugherty was forced to incur moving costs and a much higher rent to stay near her grandmother. After the FHC advised her of her rights, Ms. Daugherty chose to take her case to litigation. FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak filed the fair housing complaint based on the protected class of sex in Federal Court on July 14, 2017. The case has been assigned to Judge Linda Parker.
The United Way of Washtenaw County has awarded the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHC) a grant of $7,700 for their “Fair Policy, Fair Chance” Project.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development recently issued guidance which bans both private and public housing providers from using strict “no felony” rules for tenant selection.
The Fair Policy, Fair Chance project will educate landlords, people with prior felony convictions, and service providers working with people with felonies about the change in HUD’s rule, as well as share best practices for tenant selection with landlords. The ultimate goals are to ensure that landlords are following the new guidance and that people at risk of homelessness understand their rights.
Experts now estimate that up to 65 million people are living with a criminal conviction in the United States, a high percentage of whom are African American and Latino. Housing policies that ban all people with criminal records impact a disproportionate number of people of color because they are overrepresented in the criminal justice system.
“This grant allows us to conduct outreach that will make a real impact on the lives of citizens who were previously incarcerated,” said Pamela Kisch, Director of the Fair Housing Center. “We commend the Washtenaw County United Way for setting ‘systematic racial equity’ as a priority.”
“We are proud to have a new partnership with the United Way of Washtenaw County and appreciate the new funding for advocacy work,” adds Kisch.
For further information, please visit www.fhcmichigan.org/background.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHC) initiated a housing discrimination lawsuit against Group Five Management Company and TG Properties LLC, the owners of Randolph Court Apartments in Ann Arbor, MI.
Since age 4, Sarah Tankson has suffered from a debilitating neurological disorder known as dystonia. Prior to signing a lease at Randolph Court at the end of 2016, the manager stated in writing that Sarah Tankson would be able to install a wheelchair ramp upon move in, as Ms. Tankson uses a wheelchair and the home she was planning to rent had three steps from the sidewalk to the front door. According to the lawsuit, Ms. Tankson then contacted the FHC in January after Randolph Court Apartments management told her that “she and health aide Karen Kelsey) must remove [her makeshift ramp] and stow it away after each use.” Ms. Tankson had been using cardboard and milk crates as a temporary yet unsafe solution to enter and exit her home.
Thereafter, management sent a letter stating that Ms. Tankson has “been leaving trash” around the patio area of her unit and warned that she would be assessed fees unless she removed such trash. Ms. Tankson and her aide complied by removing the makeshift ramp materials, thus forcing Ms. Tankson to remain shut in her apartment or crawl out of her unit on days she required outside care. Ms. Tankson missed many doctor’s appointments as a result of being unable to safely leave her apartment, which caused the symptoms of her disability to worsen.
This dire situation forced Ms. Kelsey to redouble her effort to locate a contractor to install a temporary, removable wheelchair ramp. These efforts received media attention from WXYZ Channel 7 in Detroit. February 21, 2017: Handicapped woman with no ramp forced to crawl to enter her home. Thanks to the televised news coverage, a volunteer contractor agreed to construct and install the ramp, and raised contributions to cover the cost of the ramp.
Randolph Court management, however, would not allow the ramp until it received and approved the plans. The Fair Housing Center worked with Ms. Tankson and the contractor to provide the plans to Randolph Court management on February 28, 2017, and asked for written approval by March 1, 2017, as the contractor was ready to install the ramp. No response was given. Instead, management contacted Ms. Tankson on March 2, 2017, stating she could have a temporary ramp installed only if she moved into a different apartment unit, because they did not want any bushes removed or to have the ramp go across the walkway in front of her home.
Randolph Court management continued to delay the installation of the ramp by refusing to grant approval, even going as far as to turn away the contractor after he came out to install it.
The FHC contacted Group Five Management one last time to inform them that Ms. Tankson’s request for a ramp at her unit did not pose an undue burden on Randolph Court and that the Federal Fair Housing Act requires housing providers to grant permission for wheelchair bound tenants to install temporary ramps to make the entrance to their units handicap accessible. The Fair Housing Center never got a response.
WXYZ Channel 7 Detroit, in a follow up broadcast, reported on the refusal of Randolph Court management to permit the installation of the temporary ramp at Ms. Tankson’s unit. March 7, 2017: Handicapped woman blocked from building her own wheelchair ramp.
FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak filed the lawsuit on behalf of Ms. Tankson. The case, filed in U.S. Federal District Court on March 15, 2017, has been assigned to the Honorable Sean F. Cox.
After the filing of the lawsuit, Randolph Court management permitted the ramp to be installed. March 30, 2017: Disabled Ann Arbor woman gets ramp at home built after WXYZ takes action. The lawsuit continues pertaining to the injuries and emotional distress damages to Ms. Tankson.
Denise Cox and her mother, Marcia Gooding, have accepted $40,000 to settle their case against Hastings Mutual Insurance Company and East Bay Manufactured Home Community in Fenton.
Ms. Gooding contacted the Fair Housing Center on July 13, 2016, to report that she had been given an ultimatum by East Bay – get rid of Ms. Cox’s emotional support animal or be evicted.
According to Ms. Gooding, when she bought their home in May 2015, Ms. Cox’s animal, a pit bull called Kylee, had been approved to live at the property as a reasonable accommodation of her disability. Then on June 7, 2016, Ms. Gooding and Ms. Cox were served with a notice that they had to leave unless the dog was removed. To avoid losing their home, the family made the hard choice to separate Kylee from Ms. Cox. Not only were they forced to board the dog for $40 a day, but Ms. Cox experienced significant emotional distress during this time and needed additional medical care.
Ms. Gooding reported to the FHC that they had already worked with another attorney on the case, but that attorney closed their case when East Bay informed them that their insurance company, Hastings Mutual, would not allow pit bulls on the premises.
The Fair Housing Center took a complaint from the family and agreed to advocate on their behalf.
FHC staff wrote a request for reasonable accommodation, asking East Bay Manufactured Home Community to allow Ms. Cox to remain in her mother’s home with her emotional support animal. Ms. Cox had all of the appropriate paperwork from her doctor to document her need for the animal. Once again citing insurance company breed restrictions, East Bay refused to grant the accommodation request.
Fair Housing staff then asked East Bay to verify their insurance company’s policy on animal breed and reasonable accommodation requests. The FHC reminded East Bay that an emotional support animal is not a pet, and that a housing or insurance provider may not have blanket bans on emotional support animals. East Bay denied this second request, stating “Our insurance company stands by its current underwriting guidelines.”
HUD guidelines require owners and insurers to evaluate each emotional support animal on a case-by-case basis. The Fair Housing Center advised Ms. Gooding and Ms. Cox of their rights under the law. The family felt strongly that they should not give up, that is was not right to get evicted because of an assistance animal needed for a disability. The case was referred to FHC Cooperating Attorney Steve Tomkowiak.
Mr. Tomkowiak filed suit in federal court on behalf of Ms. Cox and Ms. Gooding on September 7, 2016. The case was assigned to the Honorable Victoria A. Roberts. As part of the negotiations, Ms. Cox was given permission to bring the support animal home in mid-October. The case officially settled in November, for $40,000.
The settlement agreement also included changes in policies by both East Bay Manufactured Home Community and Hastings Mutual Insurance Company. East Bay agreed to modify its community rules and regulations with respect to emotional support animal requests. Hastings Mutual agreed to modify its underwriting rules relating to its animal and accommodation requests, and undertake staff training regarding assistance animals.
“We will not prohibit or discourage our insureds from making independent decisions on requests for accommodation for service animals, regardless of breed, and will not take adverse underwriting actions against insureds who make those accommodations, if the animal in question has not demonstrated violent or aggressive tendencies, and has not been the cause of any injury or claim.” – Excerpt from the Hastings Mutual policy change, negotiated in the settlement
On her first day at a new job, rental agent Chelsae Lakin contacted the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan to report the owners of Fontaine Gardens Apartments in Saginaw, Michigan.
According to the complaint, Ms. Lakin stated that the owner, Dr. Sakti Pramanik, told her that only one person or a couple could rent a one bedroom apartment, thus making those units off limits to a parent and child. Ms. Lakin called the FHC because she did not want to participate in discrimination.
The Fair Housing Center took her complaint and opened an investigation in January 2015. FHC testing supported Ms. Lakin’s claim that her employers, Sakti and Papri Pramanik, instructed her to discriminate against families with a child. Testers were told, “apartments for kids of a certain age are in a different building” and “you cannot rent a one bedroom, because children are not allowed.”
Ms. Lakin found another job in May 2015. Though the new job was only part-time and paid less she gave her two-week notice, and broke her two-year employment contract. She also never took advantage of the rent-free apartment at Fontaine Gardens due to the Pramaniks’ discriminatory actions.
According to the lawsuit filed on October 14, 2015, between January and May 2015, Ms. Lakin learned that the “Defendants also stated and held a discriminatory preference for non-disabled tenants over similarly situated disabled tenants [as well as] stated and held a discriminatory racial preference for white tenants over black tenants.” The lawsuit also states that Ms. Lakin repeatedly informed Dr. and Mrs. Pramanik that it was illegal to discriminate in the rental of housing on the basis of a protected status – that their practices were against fair housing law – but they would not change their policies.
Chelsae Lakin accepted an undisclosed amount to settle her federal fair housing case in October 3, 2016. The suit was filed by FHC Cooperating Attorneys Stephen M. Dane and Jia Cobb from Relman, Dane, & Colfax, with assistance from local Cooperating Attorney Thomas Daniels of Pear, Sperling, Eggan, & Daniels. The case was assigned to the Honorable Thomas L. Ludington, a Federal Judge in the Eastern District of Michigan.
In May of 2015, the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHC) initiated a housing discrimination lawsuit against several multi-family apartment properties in mid-Michigan owned, operated, and/or managed by Sudi Hopper. According to the lawsuit, testers posing as a single parent with a young child were told that children were not allowed to live in one-bedroom apartments.
Fair Housing Center Cooperating Attorneys Jia Cobb and Stephen M. Dane of Relman, Dane & Colfax, along with local counsel Thomas Daniels and Matthew Daniels of Pear, Sperling, Eggan & Daniels, filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Fair Housing Center. The case, filed in U.S. Federal District Court on May 7, 2015, was assigned to the Honorable Sean F. Cox and settled for $20,000 on October 8, 2015.
The Fair Housing Center also asked the U.S. Department of Justice to look into the allegations of discrimination at the properties. The DOJ took action based on the FHC’s testing and filed a lawsuit on November 19, 2015. The case settled on August 30, 2016. According to a separate press release by the Department of Justice, “under the consent decree, which still must be approved by the court, the defendants would create a settlement fund of $20,000 to compensate victims of their discriminatory practices. The defendants also would pay $5,000 in civil penalties to the U.S. Government.
The decree will require the defendants to eliminate restrictions on children they imposed at the seven complexes they own and operate. The complexes in the case are Parkside Apartments in East Lansing, Holt Manor Apartments and C and H Apartments in Holt, Kelly Manor Apartments in Owosso, Camelot Apartments in Lansing, Pine Cove Apartments in DeWitt, and Park Place Apartments in Williamston. The agreement also requires that defendants inform tenants of their new nondiscriminatory policies and provide training on the Fair Housing Act to their staff and agents.
U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade in Detroit said the law prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to people with children. “We commend the defendants in this case for agreeing to change their policies and pay damages to victims for their past discriminatory practices. This settlement will further the goal of the Fair Housing Act to protect families from discrimination because they have children,” McQuade said.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan, founded in 1992, actively protects the civil rights of those who are discriminated against in the rental, sale, or financing of housing through investigation, education, advocacy, and legal action. The FHC takes an average of 150 complaints each year from its eight-county service area – Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, and Washtenaw counties.
The work that provided the basis for this publication was supported by funding under a grant with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The substance and findings of the work are dedicated to the public. The author and publisher are solely responsible for the accuracy of the statements and interpretations contained in this publication. Such interpretations do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Government.
The Justice Department and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices of the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan today announced an agreement with the owners and operators of seven Michigan apartment complexes to resolve allegations that they discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.
The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 19, 2015, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The lawsuit alleged that the defendants, including the rental manager Sudi Hopper, as well as the corporate entities that own the complexes, Parkside East Inc., Holt Manor Inc. and Kelly Manor Inc., discriminated against families with children by prohibiting them from renting one-bedroom units in the defendants’ apartment complexes. The allegations were based on evidence generated by the Fair Housing Center of Southeastern Michigan, which had testers posing as prospective residents contact the defendants and ask to rent one-bedroom apartments. Testers who said that they wanted to rent an apartment with their child were told that children were not allowed in one-bedroom units. The Fair Housing Center filed a lawsuit, which was resolved separately.
Under the terms of the consent decree, which still must be approved by the court, the defendants will establish a settlement fund of $20,000 to compensate victims of their discriminatory practices. The defendants will also pay $5,000 in civil penalties to the United States. In addition, the defendants will eliminate the restrictions on children that they previously imposed at the seven complexes that they own and operate. Those complexes are: Parkside East Apartments in East Lansing, Michigan; Holt Manor Apartments and C and H Apartments in Holt, Michigan; Kelly Manor Apartments in Owosso, Michigan; Camelot Apartments in Lansing, Michigan; Pine Cove Apartments in DeWitt, Michigan; and Park Place Apartments in Williamston, Michigan. The agreement also requires that defendants inform tenants of their new nondiscriminatory policies and provide training on the Fair Housing Act to their staff and agents.
“Housing provides a critical foundation for economic security and opportunity,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Families with children deserve access to housing that meets their needs without facing unlawful discrimination. The Justice Department will continue to enforce the Fair Housing Act to ensure that families with children have the same rights to housing within their price range as people without children.”
“The law prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to people with children,” said U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade of the Eastern District of Michigan. “We commend the defendants in this case for agreeing to change their policies and pay damages to victims for their past discriminatory practices. This settlement will further the goal of the Fair Housing Act to protect families from discrimination because they have children.”
“Adequate housing is a fundamental need for families and equal access to that housing must be protected,” said U.S. Attorney Patrick A. Miles Jr. of the Western District of Michigan. “Our ongoing actions to enforce the Fair Housing Act provide that protection.”
This case was handled jointly by the Civil Rights Division’s Housing and Civil Enforcement Section and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices of the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability. More information about the Civil Rights Division and the laws it enforces is available at www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals who believe that they have been victims of housing discrimination can call the Housing Discrimination Tip Line at 18008967743, email the Justice Department at fairhousing@usdoj.gov or contact HUD at 18006699777. Residents of the Eastern District of Michigan can also contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Michigan’s Civil Rights Hotline at 3132269151 or usamie.civilrights@usdoj.gov.
Residents of the Western District of Michigan can contact the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Michigan’s Civil Rights Hotline at 6168082004 or usamiw.civilrights@usdoj.gov.
Grand Rapids, MI – Today, the Fair Housing Center of West Michigan (FHCWM), the Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI), the Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHCSEM), the Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan (FHCSWM) and the Central Ohio Fair Housing Association (COFHA) announce that they have filed a fair housing complaint against AMP Residential, an Indianapolis-based property management company that owns and operates over 8,000 rental housing units in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Alabama. The groups allege that AMP has engaged in systemic discrimination against families with children across 20 properties evaluated in three states.
“It’s been over 20 years since the federal Fair Housing Act was amended to protect families from discrimination,” said Amy Nelson, FHCCI’s Executive Director. “It’s disappointing and frustrating that we still find housing providers enacting written policies to prevent families with children from enjoying their right to equal housing.”
In the filed complaint, AMP Residential is alleged to have a stated occupancy standard of no more than two people per bedroom in each apartment or townhome, regardless of the unit’s square footage or whether that unit has a den, office, or other feature that could provide an additional bedroom or living area for a child. AMP enforces this policy without regard to local health and property maintenance codes that state the square footage required for each occupant. In each of the 20 properties named in the complaint, AMP was found to have denied housing to families with children despite the apartments having ample square footage for the family size to be allowed by local codes. Not only were the families prohibited from living in a particular unit, many were denied from the complex all together due to their family size.
FHCWM, FHCCI, FHCSEM, FHCSWM, and COFHA conducted a joint systemic investigation into the AMP properties located in their respective states. The complaint alleges that 20 apartment complexes were found to have unlawfully refused to rent units to families with children. Such overly restrictive occupancy standards impact the ability of families with children to find affordable, safe housing in neighborhoods of their choice.
“Often, investigations into housing discrimination uncover subtle and difficult to detect unlawful behavior,” stated Nancy Haynes, Executive Director of FHCWM. “Each test that we performed at an AMP property, however, ended in a clear and blatant statement from an employee that a family with children was not permitted to rent the unit that they had inquired about. This is not only unacceptable, it’s illegal.”
The properties named in the complaint are: Addison Place and North Park (Evansville, IN); Edison Pointe (Mishawaka, IN); Runaway Club (Delta Township, MI); 43 North and Timberview (Grand Haven Township, MI); Aspen Lakes, Central Park Place, Ridgewood, and Wyndham Hill (Grand Rapids, MI); River Club (Holland Township, MI); Waverly Place (Kalamazoo, MI); Glen Oaks East, Woodbridge and Woodland Creek (Kentwood, MI); Country Place and Stone Crest (Mount Pleasant, MI); Spring Brook (Laketown Township, MI); The Valley (Plainfield Township, MI); and Muirwood Village (Columbus, OH).
“Where a family lives dictates the parents’ access to employment, the children’s access to good schools, and the family’s access to grocery stores, healthcare, and other vital services,” said Jim McCarthy, President and CEO of the Central Ohio Fair Housing Association. “AMP Residential’s refusal to rent to families with children is a deliberate denial of their right to choose the community that best serves their needs.”
The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan is a private, non-profit fair housing organization founded in 1980 and located in Grand Rapids, MI. Its mission is to prevent and eliminate illegal housing discrimination and to ensure equal housing opportunity. More information on FHCWM at: www.fhcwm.org
The Fair Housing Center of Central Indiana (FHCCI) is a private, nonprofit fair housing organization founded in 2011 and based in Indianapolis, IN. Its mission is to ensure equal housing opportunities by eliminating housing discrimination through advocacy, enforcement, education and outreach. More information on FHCCI at: www.fhcci.org
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast and Mid-Michigan (FHCSEM) is a private, non-profit fair housing organization founded in 1992 and serving mid- and southeastern Michigan. Its mission is to end discrimination in housing and public accommodations and to promote accessible, integrated communities. More information on FHCSEM at www.fhcmichigan.org
The Fair Housing Center of Southwest Michigan (FHCSWM) is a private, non-profit organization established in 2001 and based on Kalamazoo, MI. Its mission is to promote integration and eliminate housing discrimination. More information on FHCSWM at www.fhcswm.org
The Central Ohio Fair Housing Association (COFHA) is a private, non-profit fair housing organization headquartered in Columbus, OH. Its mission is to eliminate housing discrimination and ensure equal housing opportunity for all people in their region. More information on COFHA at: www.cofha.com
On April 4, 2016, the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued new guidance to the real estate community regarding the use of criminal background in evaluating prospective tenants. The guidance, titled “Office of General Counsel Guidance on Application of Fair Housing Act Standards to the Use of Criminal Records by Providers of Housing and Real Estate-Related Transactions,” explains how criminal background as a screening tool could violate the Fair Housing Act, and suggests standards and procedures that landlords should follow instead. This is the first time HUD has issued guidance on the issue to non-governmental entities.
Criminal background is not a protected class under the Fair Housing Act (FHA). The new guidance explains how blanket denials of applicants with conviction records, and any denial of applicants with only an arrest record, have been proven to have a disparate impact on classes that are protected under the FHA (for instance, race and national origin), which means these housing selection policies may violate the Fair Housing Act.
The Fair Housing Center of Southeast & Mid Michigan (FHC) applauds the new guidance from HUD and recognizes its great potential to reintegrate African-American and Latino applicants back into the rental market. The FHC is highly aware of the nexus between criminal background and the exclusion of people of color from the market. As the guidance states, “Because of widespread racial and ethnic disparities in the U.S. criminal justice system, criminal history-based restrictions on access to housing are likely disproportionately to burden African Americans and Hispanics.”
“We have taken complaints from people of color whose convictions were over 20 or 30 years old, and others who had non-violent misdemeanors that in no way should have affected their ability to rent an apartment,” said Pam Kisch, Executive Director of the FHC. “Our office will continue to take and investigate these complaints when they come in, as well as negotiate and resolve reasonable accommodations for those who have a disability and criminal background.”
“When someone is convicted of a crime and completes a probation, jail, or prison sentence, their punishment should be over. Instead we ask people to pay for the rest of their lives, when they are denied access to housing and employment with blanket “no felony” policies,” stated Mary King, Executive Director of the Michigan Council on Crime and Delinquency (MCCD). “Thanks to the new guidance from HUD, people who have a felony conviction can now expect fair consideration of their application and can turn to the Fair Housing Center for help if they encounter a landlord still practicing blanket denials.”
Under the new guidance, the Fair Housing Center plans to conduct additional outreach to the community so people know where to call if they have questions or have been denied housing due to criminal background.
Natalie Holbrook, Program Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s Michigan Criminal Justice Program (AFSC- MI CJ), also applauds the new guidance. “As an organization that has worked diligently for prisoner rights and rights for people with felony convictions, AFSC has witnessed first-hand the multitude of problems that people returning to their communities experience when coming home from prison. Access to permanent, affordable housing is a major issue faced by returning citizens and this guidance from HUD is long over- due in the work to end discrimination against people with felony convictions, poor people, people of color and people living with disabilities. We are hopeful that this guidance will create more housing options and will lead to less discrimination and more opportunities for returning citizens.”
The Fair Housing Center encourages property owners and landlords who are moving toward less-restrictive tenancy selection criteria to read the guidance in full, as it outlines what HUD will use as “the three steps used to analyze claims that a housing provider’s use of criminal history to deny housing opportunities results in a discriminatory effect in violation of the Act. … [as well as the] analytical framework used to evaluate claims of intentional discrimination.” [Italics added]
As mentioned above, the FHC has had some success in gaining reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities who either have a criminal background themselves, or require the assistance of someone who does.
A man with a physical disability lived in his apartment building for three years. He was, by all accounts, an excellent tenant. When a new management company took over, they required that each tenant reapply. Our complainant had a felony record from 14 years prior and for this reason the new managers told him he would have to move at the end of his lease. As a reasonable accommodation, FHC asked for a new lease to be issued, pointing out that our complainant had turned his life around. The accommodation was granted. The complex later removed his reserved parking space. We asked for a second accommodation to have his reserved parking space returned to him and the accommodation was granted.
A woman who owns a mobile home needs 24-hour-a-day care provided by her son and her boyfriend. Both had been living with her for the last six years without complaint or incident. A new manager demanded she officially put her caregivers on her lease, but denied their applications because of past felony convictions. This led to an eviction notice and the woman feared that any gap in her care could be fatal. FHC staff wrote a letter asking that they let her add her caregivers to the lease as a reasonable accommodation of her disability. The accommodation was granted.
One to watch: The law firm Relman, Dane & Colfax filed a case in October 2014 that is now pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. Their client, the Fortune Society, alleges that Sandcastle Towers in New York City has a blanket ban against applicants with any convictions and this likely violates the Fair Housing Act.