The New York City Commission on Human Rights (“CCHR”) announced the largest civil rights settlement in city history for a housing discrimination settlement against Parkchester Preservation Management (“PPM”) that will hold the company accountable for discriminating against voucher holders. CCHR imposed $1 million in civil penalties, the highest ever ordered for violations under the housing provisions of the New York City Human Rights Law and secured 850 apartment units to be set aside for housing voucher holders, the most ever secured in a CCHR settlement. Source of income discrimination — commonly referred to as “voucher discrimination” — occurs when people are denied housing or tenants are treated as less because they use a form of a public subsidy — including Section 8 and City Fighting Homelessness and Eviction Prevention Supplement (City FHEPS) vouchers — to pay their rent.
PPM excluded renters with vouchers from the apartment complex by requiring minimum income requirements, non-refundable deposits, and other requirements for tenancy that are designed to discriminate against voucher holders. PPM required housing applicants to have specific levels of income in relation to the monthly rent of a unit and would not consider the full voucher amount as part of the applicant’s income. This made it impossible for tenants with a rental subsidy to qualify for a unit. CCHR concluded that these practices sought to discriminate against voucher holders and keep them from obtaining housing. Of the over 6,000 rental units in PPM, only voucher holders occupied a small fraction.
Source of income discrimination has been illegal in New York City since 2008 under the NYC Human Rights Law, but it remains one of the most common forms of housing discrimination reported to CCHR. Also, New York Human Rights Law (Executive Law article 15) was amended in April 2019 to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice to refuse to rent or lease housing accommodations to any person, or group of persons, based on their “lawful source of income”.
In resolving housing discrimination cases, CCHR works to ensure meaningful progress and protections for tenants, including through guaranteed access to housing opportunities, monetary damages for complainants, and civil penalties. CCHR can also mandate measures to help protect against any future discriminatory practices, including requiring trainings, setting aside a certain number of units for voucher holders, incentivizing real estate brokers to connect voucher holders to housing opportunities, and ensuring that CCHR can monitor ongoing practices.
To learn how to prevent tenant discrimination lawsuits, call or text  NY landlord attorneys Robert Friedman and Justin Friedman at 716-541-3405.
