Cleveland Community Pays $100K to Settle Discrimination Case

The manager and owner of a Cleveland community recently agreed to pay $100,000 to resolve allegations that they violated federal fair housing law by refusing to rent units at the 205-unit complex to families with children.

The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department, also alleged that the community maintained a policy of refusing to rent units to families with children and evicting residents—or asking them to relocate—if they had children while living there. Although the Fair Housing Act allows housing that is reserved for older persons to limit residency to adults under certain circumstances, the Justice Department said that the community did not meet the requirements for this exemption.

In addition to the monetary settlement, the community agreed to remove any restrictions on occupancy by families with children and to take certain steps such as training employees and reporting to the Department of Justice to make sure that such discriminatory policies are not implemented in the future.

“Finding decent, safe, and affordable housing is critical for working families,” Molly Moran, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division, said in a statement. “Such families should not be turned away from housing merely because they have children.”

Source: U.S. Department of Justice