Suit Charges Apartment Owners With Race Bias

The western regional office of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense and Education Fund has filed a lawsuit charging the owners and managers of Belford Park Apartments in Westchester with discrimination against black applicants.

The suit was filed Tuesday in U. S. District Court on behalf of the Westside Fair Housing Council and three other plaintiffs. It seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $100,000 per plaintiff from the Westchester Investment Co., which owns the large apartment complex, and managers Brice and Patricia Duncan of Gutweiler-Woolley Properties.

Representatives of Westchester Investment and the managers of the complex at 8809 Belford Ave. did not return phone calls.

Patrick O. Patterson, an attorney for the Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the suit alleges that blacks who sought to apply for apartments were routinely discriminated against. The legal action stems from a 1987 complaint by Robert J. Beaumont, a white tenant in the complex who agreed to share his two-bedroom apartment with Allan G. Lopez, a black.

When Lopez moved into the complex with his belongings, he was told by the managers that he would not be allowed to stay unless he filled out an application, Patterson said. He submitted an application but it was rejected. Then Beaumont, who previously had a white male roommate in the same apartment, was notified that he would face eviction if Lopez remained. Lopez moved out.

Lopez and Beaumont complained about their treatment to the Westside Fair Housing Council, which investigated the charges.

The council sent one black and two white checkers to the apartment in October to apply for apartments. The suit alleges that the black checker, Robin A. Patrick, was told there were no apartments available. The white checkers entered the apartment complex immediately before and after the black checker. The whites were shown apartments and given applications, Patterson said.