Couple Were Evicted Illegally, Judge Rules

A federal judge has ruled that a Corona del Mar apartment manager and owner discriminated against a young couple that were evicted because they were expecting their first child.

Kimberly and David Delgado were handed a three-day eviction notice in July 1994, shortly after telling manager Tim Mang they were interested in a two-bedroom apartment to accommodate their growing family, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana.

“Basically, they threw her out when she got pregnant,” attorney Nancy Kaufman said. “It was an apartment complex that preferred single adults. Some people just don’t like to have children around.”

The Delgados were out of town Friday and could not be reached for comment. An attorney for Mang and the owner of the Carnation Avenue apartment complex did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In court papers, the defense argued against the discrimination claim. They insisted there was no written policy discriminating against children and said parents with children had lived in the apartment complex in the past.

Kaufman said a review of rental records over the past 15 years showed that only one youth, a teenager, had lived in the apartment complex.

Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler’s written ruling said the evidence against the manager was strong, including an answering machine tape on which the manager left two messages telling the couple they must move because of a policy barring children in the complex.

With nowhere to go on such short notice, the Delgados moved in temporarily with Kimberly Delgado’s father and stepmother in September 1994, Kaufman said.

Still to be decided is whether the Delgados and the Fair Housing Council of Orange County Inc. will be paid damages, Kaufman said.