Suit Alleges Housing Discrimination : Courts: The Department of Justice says a woman was discouraged from applying to rent a Canoga Park apartment because of her race.

The Department of Justice sued the owners and manager of a Canoga Park apartment complex Tuesday, saying they discriminated against a prospective tenant because she is black.

Filed in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles, the lawsuit alleges that George P. Yellich, Neva Jean Yellich and Kenneth Paradise violated the Federal Fair Housing Act by discouraging Michelle McKinney, a black woman, from applying to rent a vacant unit at a complex owned by the Yellichs in the 19000 block of Sherman Way.

The lawsuit accuses Paradise, the manager of the complex, of telling McKinney that she would not be approved to rent an apartment because of her race, and discouraging her from applying.

Contacted by phone Tuesday night, Paradise declined to comment on the suit.

The Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley and the Department of Justice launched an investigation, which included sending black and white prospective renters, also known as “testers,” to the complex.

The lawsuit alleges that the defendants refused to offer available apartments to qualified black applicants, provided more favorable terms to white applicants and encouraged whites but not blacks to apply to rent.

The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit discrimination at the apartment complex and to compensate victims with general and punitive damages and a civil penalty of up to $50,000 for each defendant.

“The type of discrimination that occurs is very subtle and the persons who are victims often don’t even know they are the victims,” said Paul Hancock, chief of the housing section of the Justice Department’s civil rights division in Washington.

The Canoga Park building became the third Valley apartment complex to be targeted this year by the Department of Justice.

“We had information available to us that indicated that blacks and Hispanics in many major cities were encountering discrimination as they searched for housing,” Hancock said.

In May, Iradj Rassekhi, Golriz Ghogeh and Jack Brandt were ordered to pay $100,000 in penalties for discriminating against two prospective tenants of a Sherman Oaks apartment building because they were black.

An unrelated lawsuit is pending against Yung-Chung Shen, Ming Yuan Huang and Mei Ling Huang, who are accused of imposing different terms and conditions on rentals in the Parthenia Terrace Apartments in North Hills.

The Justice Department filed a lawsuit in August alleging that potential black renters were told that units were not available for inspection or rental when in fact they were.