TRENTON
– Attorney General Peter C. Harvey
and the Division
on Civil Rights announced today that
the State has issued a Finding of Probable
Cause against the owners of a Passaic
County apartment complex for allegedly
denying a Hispanic man housing because
of his national origin.
Named as a Respondent in the Finding of
Probable Cause document is the Call Holding
Corporation, owner of a 14-unit garden
apartment facility located in Clifton.
Call Holding Corporation is accused of
refusing to rent to prospective tenant
Frankie Lorenzo, of Paterson, because
he is Hispanic.
A Finding of Probable Cause means the
State has finished its investigation,
and has determined there is sufficient
evidence to support a reasonable suspicion
that the actions of the Call Holding Corporation’s
ownership and on-site management violated
the
New Jersey Law Against Discrimination
(LAD).
“This
is America, and it is vitally important
that, in America, a person’s option
to live anywhere he or she chooses is
protected,” said Attorney General
Harvey. “Through the use of undercover
testers and other means, we have increased
the investigation and prosecution of housing
discrimination cases, and intend to continue
doing so. We are committed to discouraging
a ‘them-and-us’ mentality
among housing providers, and to ensuring
equal opportunity for all property renters
and buyers.”
According to Attorney General Harvey,
Lorenzo inquired about an apartment that
was being advertised on the premises of
the apartment facility operated by Call
Holding in October 2004. He was told at
the time there was no apartment available,
and he was not offered a rental application.
Harvey said that, after Lorenzo’s
visit, an individual who is not Hispanic
contacted Call Holding about the same
apartment and was told it was still available,
and that he was welcome to inspect it.
Shortly afterward another person, also
a non-Hispanic, visited the Call Holding
site. The individual was told an apartment
would be available within two weeks --
after some repairs were completed –
and was given a rental application. Eventually,
the dwelling was rented to a non-Hispanic.
Division on Civil Rights Director J. Frank
Vespa-Papaleo said the Division “established
a specialized Housing Investigations Unit
to address situations exactly like this
one.”
“This
is the type of alleged discrimination
our investigators hear about quite often.
It happens more than you would like to
think,” said Vespa-Papaleo. “We
encourage anyone who has been treated
in a similar fashion to call us at our
toll-free housing hotline, 1-866-405-3050,
and help us put an end to unlawful housing
discrimination in New Jersey.”
The New Jersey Law Against Discrimination
(LAD) provides that each Respondent found
to have committed a violation is subject
to a penalty of up to $10,000, provided
he or she has not been convicted of a
previous violation within the past five
years. Respondents who have violated the
LAD within the past five years are subject
to a penalty of up to $25,000, while those
who have been convicted of two or more
violations within the past seven years
are subject to a penalty of up to $50,000.
Now that a Finding of Probable Cause has
been issued, the case moves into a phase
known as conciliation, a form of alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) in which the
parties make a final attempt to resolve
the matter. If it is not resolved at conciliation,
the matter can be referred for a hearing
on the merits.
Prior Housing Discrimination Suits
Under
the leadership of Attorney General Harvey
and Director Vespa-Papaleo, the Division
on Civil Rights has been vigorous in combating
housing discrimination. In 2004, the DCR
settled four “Section 8” housing
discrimination prosecutions involving
these New Jersey landlords and real estate
agencies: Atlantic Coast Realty, Garden
State Realty, 599 Broadway Management
and Clinton Manor Associates. The complaints
were the first filed under a new State
law that prohibits housing discrimination
on the basis of a tenant's source of lawful
income, or rental subsidy. The first case
to settle involved Atlantic Coast Realty,
of Brigantine. The settlement called for
Atlantic to fund a DCR-led training session
on the LAD for approximately 1,000 real
estate industry professionals from three
South Jersey counties, monitoring of Atlantic's
rental practices, and the prominent display
of information on the use of federal Section
8 rental vouchers. The DCR subsequently
settled the remaining three cases. Each
settlement included an agreement by the
Respondent to increase training and awareness.
The three Respondents also paid the Division
a total of $80,000 in compensatory damages.
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