Recent HUD Enforcement Activities: Conciliation Agreements and Charges of Discrimination

Since February, 2021, HUD has approved several conciliation agreements and charged several housing providers with discrimination. Below provides a summary of some of HUD’s recent enforcement activities.

Conciliation Agreements

• On March 4, 2021, HUD approved a Conciliation Agreement resolving allegations that 19 apartment complexes in and near Philadelphia refused to grant reasonable accommodations requested by individuals with disabilities.

Under the terms of the settlement, the management companies and owners will pay $90,000 to the Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania and $25,000 to the initial complainant, develop and implement nondiscrimination and reasonable accommodation policies, provide training to staff, and grant reasonable accommodations to tenants whose requests were previously denied.
Click here to read the full press release.
Click here to read the Conciliation Agreement.

• On March 8, 2021, HUD approved a Conciliation Agreement with JP Morgan Chase resolving claims of race discrimination in appraisals. The HUD administrative complaint was filed by an African-American woman alleging that the mortgage lender, relying on an appraisal that she believed was inaccurate, valued her home at an amount lower than its actual worth because of her race. The Fair Housing Act prohibits the consideration of race as a factor in the appraisal or valuation of a home, including the race of the homeowner or the racial composition of the neighborhood.

Under the terms of the Conciliation Agreement, JPMorgan Chase Bank will pay $50,000 to the woman and provide home lending advisors and client care specialists with mandatory training on the Reconsideration of Value process and fair lending issues related to appraisals.
Click here to read the full press release.
Click here to read the Conciliation Agreement.

• On March 24, 2021, HUD approved a Conciliation Agreement between California rental housing providers and a resident of one of their properties resolving claims of disability discrimination. The complaint alleged that the housing providers denied a resident’s reasonable accommodation request for an assistance animal, cancelled the lease, and changed the locks on the unit.

Under the terms of the Conciliation Agreement, the housing providers will pay $10,000 to the resident, provide fair housing training for their employees, create and implement a written Reasonable Accommodation Policy, and modify any rental forms or materials to be consistent with the Fair Housing Act.
Click here to read the full press release.
Click here to read the Conciliation Agreement.

Charges of Discrimination

• On February 9, 2021, HUD charged a Missouri housing provider with discrimination by refusing to allow a prospective tenant with a mental health disability a reasonable accommodation to waive the required pet deposit for her assistance animal. The charge also alleges that the housing provider made discriminatory statements, including that the complainant “did not look like she had a disability” and inquired into the nature of the disability. The Charge of Discrimination follows an investigation and determination by HUD that reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice occurred.
  Click here to read the full press release.
  Click here to read the Charge of Discrimination.

• On February 22, 2021, HUD charged a Rhode Island housing provider with discrimination by refusing to rent to families with children at its rental properties. The Charge of Discrimination follows an investigation by HUD and determination that reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice occurred. The Complainant is a fair housing organization that conducted discrimination fair housing testing after seeing an online advertisement for student housing. The testing revealed that the housing provider refused to show available units to fair housing testers posing as prospective tenants with children.
  Click here to read the full press release.
  Click here to read the Charge of Discrimination.

• On February 24, 2021, HUD charged a Pennsylvania housing provider with discriminating against people with mental disabilities by refusing to allow assistance animals at its properties. The Charge of Discrimination follows an investigation by HUD and determination that reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice occurred. The Complainant is a fair housing organization that conducted discrimination fair housing tests over a 4-month period, which revealed that the Respondents would not allow emotional support animals at its properties.
  Click here to read the full press release.
  Click here to read the Charge of Discrimination.

• On March 16, 2021, HUD charged a Pennsylvania landlord, husband-and-wife owners of apartments, with sexual harassment and retaliation against a female resident in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act. The Charge of Discrimination follows an investigation and determination by HUD that reasonable cause exists to believe that a discriminatory housing practice occurred. HUD’s charge alleges that the landlord made sexual advances toward the female tenant when he was in her unit to perform electrical repairs. The charge further alleges that the owners retaliated against the female tenant and her infant child after she told the owner-wife about the harassment. The tenant was subsequently evicted by the owners.
  Click here to read the full press release.
  Click here to read the Charge of Discrimination.

• On April 16, 2021, HUD issued findings that the Housing Authority of Dallas, Texas, discriminated against a tenant with a disability by failing to provide a reasonable accommodation and seeking to evict her. In its investigation, HUD found that the Housing Authority of Dallas, Texas, failed to properly and timely transfer a tenant with a mobility disability to a first-floor unit, forcing her to leave her wheelchair and crawl up or down stairs in order to access or leave her housing. According to HUD’s Letter of Findings, although the Housing Authority of Dallas initially approved the reasonable accommodation request, the Housing Authority of Dallas refused to implement the request, even though there was an available ground-floor unit in the tenant’s building, as well as another ground-floor unit at a nearby building also managed by the Housing Authority.
  Click here to read the full press release.
  Click here to read HUD’s Letter of Findings.

• On April 20, 2021, HUD charged a Texas rental property owner with discriminating against families with children by refusing to rent a 6-bedroom home to a woman and her ten (10) children. According to HUD’s Charge of Discrimination, the owner said he could not rent the home to a family with 11 people. The mother held a housing choice voucher for a 6-bedroom home and found the subject property through a website that specifically advertised properties that would accept housing choice vouchers. The mother and her family were ultimately forced to rent a smaller home, with less amenities, located in a less desirable community that was further from job opportunities.
  Click here to read the full press release.
  Click here to read the Charge of Discrimination.