Attorney general announces settlements in three fair housing investigations. Brown made the announcement Tuesday where he was joined by Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater.
By Valerie Bonk
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office announced settlements of three investigations against landlords it said were turning away potential renters for previous felony convictions and discriminating against renters with housing vouchers, among other violations.
Attorney General Anthony Brown also said Tuesday that his office joined a lawsuit before the Maryland Supreme Court to argue that a policy of requiring that applicants have income 2.5 times the amount of the rent discriminates against rent voucher recipients.
More than 50,000 Maryland residents use a voucher to make the rent, he said, but that is not taken into account when the minimum income requirement is applied, effectively shutting voucher recipients out, his office argued earlier this month in Hare v. David S. Brown Enterprises Ltd.
Brown made the announcements at a news conference Tuesday where he was joined by officials of local renters’ groups, his office’s civil rights division, the Maryland Civil Rights Commission and by Frederick County Executive Jessica Fitzwater, whose county participated in one of the investigations. With the federal government pulling back from enforcement of fair housing laws and becoming “hostile to civil rights” in general, it is more important than ever for state and local officials to step up, Brown said.
“Every Marylander deserves equal treatment and opportunity, whether in housing, employment, education or public accommodations,” he said at the news conference.
Brown said his office has settled fair housing investigations against American Management, Maryland Management, Habitat America and the Commons of Avalon.
Brown said his office investigated claims that Maryland Management refused to accept emergency housing vouchers from tenants facing eviction. The vouchers are one-time payments from government agencies or community organizations that allow tenants to pay their rent and avoid losing their homes, Brown said.
“Maryland Management unjustly subjected tenants to traumatic evictions,” Brown said. “Many of these tenants were racial or ethnic minorities.”
In addition to agreeing to change its policies and accepting emergency assistance payments, the settlement calls on Maryland Management to pay $90,000 in civil penalties, set up a $90,000 fund for anyone evicted or turned away under the old policy, and provide fair housing training for its staff.
Brown also announced a settlement with Habitat America and the Commons of Avalon in Frederick County. Fitzwater said the investigation began when county officials learned that renters with vouchers were being charged “much higher rents than those without vouchers.”
Brown said the investigation led to “a settlement requiring restitution of excess rent charged to voucher holders and an immediate end to the unlawful surcharge practice.” In addition to reimbursing excess rent charges to voucher holders, the agreement calls on the landlord to pay up to $2,500 per household in additional damages, to train its staff on fair housing laws and to pay $105,000 in civil penalties.
Brown emphasized his office’s commitment to fighting discrimination, adding it “will no longer be tolerated.”
In the American Management settlement, which was originally announced in April, the offices’ civil rights division had investigated the company’s policy of automatically rejecting rental applications from people with felony convictions.
“It applied regardless of the applicant’s current circumstances or the age and nature of their convictions,” Brown said. “Our investigation found that this practice disproportionately affected people of color.”
Under the settlement, American Management has agreed to adopt “a new screening policy that looks at individual circumstances rather than using blanket bans” when evaluating a potential tenant. The company also agreed to waive application fees for the next two years for people with felony convictions, and it will pay a $25,000 civil penalty.
“These changes will create meaningful housing opportunities for Marylanders working to rebuild their lives,” Brown said.
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