Judge OK’s sweeping broker discrimination lawsuit

A major lawsuit accusing dozens of property owners and brokerages of discrimination got a green light from a federal judge.

On Tuesday, Judge Sidney Stein allowed the plaintiffs to proceed to discovery, Gothamist reported, meaning some brokerages and building owners will be forced to turn over documents and emails.

The watchdog group Housing Rights Initiative filed its sweeping lawsuit two years ago, alleging 88 landlords and brokerages in the city discriminated against testers pretending to be tenants with Section 8 housing vouchers. About a dozen of defendants appear to no longer be involved.

HRI filed the suit after recording dozens of conversations by investigators posing as apartment seekers. Some faced subtle discrimination, while others were told directly that the landlord does not accept vouchers. Discrimination based on source of income is illegal in New York City.

Among those named in the original complaint were Compass, the Corcoran Group and Century 21. Compass settled with HRI last year, promising bigger commissions to agents on Section 8 leases, among other steps.

Voucher discrimination can be a proxy for racial or disability discrimination. Black and Latino tenants make up 82 percent of Section 8 voucher recipients in the city, while people with disabilities account for 28 percent.

The judge agreed with the complaint’s assertion that anti-voucher policies amounted to racial discrimination, which was banned by the Fair Housing Act.

HRI founder Aaron Carr told Gothamist that the decision shows “that if you are illegally discriminating against low-income families, the elderly, and the disabled, the question of whether you will be caught is not a matter of if, but when.”

Enforcement, however, has been largely left to his nonprofit. And it’s not clear how much the lawsuit will dissuade the behavior if it does not result in a substantial monetary award. The plaintiffs say their primary goal is to change the behavior of landlords and their brokers.