A Message on Housing Bias

The owners of a large Buena Park apartment complex have agreed to pay $250,000 and give up control of all rental properties for five years to settle a lawsuit accusing them of discrimination. The conditions should send a message that housing discrimination will not be tolerated in Orange County.

Discrimination can be difficult to detect because it sometimes is so subtle, not a door slamming in someone’s face but rather the creation of a climate in which one does not feel welcome. The problem in Orange County, or the perception of it, is sufficiently widespread that the Fair Housing Council investigates about 800 complaints a year.

The plaintiffs, an African American man and a woman and child who are African American and Mexican, moved out after five months in the Flowertree Apartments because they felt unwelcome, an official of the Fair Housing Council of Orange County said. Their complaint to the local chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People led to the involvement of the council, which filed the lawsuit. The plaintiffs will receive $100,000 in damages.

In the settlement the owners denied any discrimination. One of their lawyers said the owners settled because of the threat of ever higher attorney’s fees. In addition, the 186-unit Flowertree Apartments was sold after settling. It’s true that fear of attorney’s fees can be a motivator to settle. Nearly four years ago, another owner of apartment houses in Orange County settled a housing discrimination lawsuit for $775,000; the Fair Housing Council and the tenants got $130,000, and their law firm got $645,000.

Whatever the merits of a particular case, it is important to maintain vigilance against discrimination in housing because of race, ethnic background, marital status or children. Landlords and their property managers should be familiar with the law; violations need to be punished so that others know better than to discriminate.