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| WA State FAIR HOUSING UPDATE: October 2004 |
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Personalities shape even the "simplest" fair housing cases By the Seattle Office for Civil Rights There is no such thing as a typical fair housing case. Even the simplest-sounding situation can turn out to be complicated—especially if charging parties and respondents come to the table with preconceived ideas of what a "charge" signifies, how SOCR conducts its investigation, and what a settlement should look like. Take the experience of Patricia Casey, who wanted to sublet a unit in Hillside Homes, a condominium complex, in November, 2003. (Note: all names in this article are fictitious.) The owner, Ms. Henriksen, asked if she had children. When Ms. Casey admitted she did, Ms. Henriksen said, "Sorry, this complex is adults-only." Ms. Casey contacted SOCR, then called the condo owners back for more specific information. Mr. Henriksen, the co-owner, confirmed his wife's earlier statement: "Yes, this is an adult-only building." When SOCR's investigator issued a "Request for Information" to the respondents, the Henriksens included a letter to their neighbors indicating they would try to keep the complex adult-only. There was no written policy, nor were the condominium owners organized as a business association. The adult-only policy may have been simply an informal agreement among like-minded neighbors, or a coincidence. With "smoking gun" evidence like that, the investigation concluded quickly with a Finding of Reasonable Cause. But the end of an investigation is not always the end of the story. Settlement negotiations bogged down on both sides. Even after the law was explained to them, the Henriksens still felt they'd done nothing wrong. They didn't see how a preference for an "adult-only community" was a violation of law. For her part, Ms. Casey felt that SOCR's proposed settlement should include a substantial cash award, far beyond any actual financial damages she had suffered. Both sides struggled to acknowledge the realities of the law and the legal process. It looked like the case would have to go to the City of Seattle's Law Department. Perhaps the vision of further delays and lawyers' fees put all sides in the mood for a compromise. In the end, Ms. Casey agreed to accept $725, the equivalent of one month's rent, and the Henriksens agreed to attend fair housing training, as well as to pledge not to retaliate in any way against Ms. Casey. With the settlement signed, our "easy" case reached a difficult closure. ----------------- Landlord Jeffrey Breck was furious when he received charging papers from SOCR alleging that he had discriminated against Maria Perdina because her daughter was African American. He believed he had done nothing wrong, but that we would take her word over his. Maria Perdina told SOCR that Mr. Breck had refused to repair her broken heater and had issued her an eviction notice after Ms. Perdina had contacted SOCR. The allegations, if true, would constitute retaliation and would be a blatant violation of fair housing laws. But SOCR's investigation revealed a very different picture. Mr. Breck was able to show that all of the tenants in his building belong to ethnic minorities. He contended that he had made more repairs to Ms. Perdina's unit than to any other in the building. He also demonstrated that Ms. Perdina owed nearly $2,000 in rent, and that he had posted a Three-Day Notice to Pay or Vacate just before Ms. Perdina had contacted SOCR. Ms. Perdina had not been evicted but had left her tenancy of her own accord. Faced with this evidence, SOCR concluded that no violation of fair housing law had occurred. This time a complicated case turned out to be simply without merit. And Mr. Breck? He still was annoyed at the time he'd spent defending his actions. But he also came away with a better appreciation of the neutrality of fair housing enforcement agencies. Have a question about fair housing in Seattle? Call the Seattle Office for Civil Rights at 206-684-4500 (TTY 206-684-4503), or find SOCR on the Web at www.seattle.gov/civilrights. KCOCR Fair Housing Home Page Your comments about this Web site Updated: Jan. 4, 2005 King County | DES | OCR | News | Services | Comments | Search Links to external sites do not constitute
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