The state Division of Human Rights is going after an upstate landlord after allegations of housing discrimination.
The agency sued Dawn Home Management in state Supreme Court, the Times Union reported. The lawsuit pertains to a handful of complexes recently investigated by the nonprofit Westchester Residential Opportunities.
WRO began its investigation in 2017, according to the suit. Representatives for the nonprofit posed as prospective renters and recorded calls with rental agent employees. In the calls, those on the rental side often allegedly said rental assistance vouchers were not accepted, according to the lawsuit, and the nonprofit also found Dawn Homes’ landlords didn’t factor vouchers into the required minimum income on leases.
“The position of WRO and other advocacy groups in New York around source of income is that when someone has a voucher, a landlord should not apply any minimum income requirement because the person has already gone through a vetting,” an attorney representing the nonprofit told the Times Union.
A spokesperson for Dawn Homes denied the allegations.
WRO has previously taken aim at the management company, which operates properties in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Three years ago, the nonprofit filed a complaint about how Dawn Homes’ allegedly either refused to accept federal housing vouchers or set up unfair income requirements for voucher holders.
The quest to root out housing discriminators arguably became tougher last week when the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James tapped the brakes on a $3 million fair housing testing program. The office is widely expected to rework the program and open it back up to bids for grants in the fall.
James announced the program in November, saying it was designed to fund fair housing testing across the state. The program was funded by license fees added under a change to state law in 2021.
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Anti-bias laws also carried increased penalties from $1,000 to $2,000, and half of what was collected would’ve been distributed into the fair housing initiative.
Nonprofit organizations across the state would be eligible to apply for grants of up to $250,000 to pay for the work. But the quick turnaround time expected for applicants and the small amount of funds available kept nonprofits away.