Lawsuit Claims Concord Apartment Manager Discriminated Against Children

Apartment residents in Concord, California filed a lawsuit in Contra Costa Superior Court Wednesday afternoon that claims their landlord discriminated against families with children.

Daniel Mendoza is a father of three children and a resident of the Huntington Arms Apartments. He is one of eight suing the landlord for the right to live with his children in the apartment complex.

“It has been really difficult,” Mendoza said. “We want to have security in our home and live free of discrimination and harassment,” he said.

The lawsuit claims the apartment manager would yell at children who played in the common areas. It also claims the manager told residents that she would evict families with children from the apartment complex, which is located in the 1700 block of Detroit Avenue. Some families say they stopped letting their children play in the courtyard for fear of getting evicted. 

Residents began working with a tenants rights advocacy group called Tenants Together and the law firm Brancart & Brancart to find a way to prevent management from limiting the number of children they could have in their homes.

In November, residents filed a complaint against the landlord with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. The manager of the apartment complex has since been replaced.

Attorney Leah Simon-Weisberg, legal director of Tenants Together, said it was courageous of residents to take this kind of action. 

“We applaud these tenants for standing up to this kind of abuse. They want to make sure that this never happens to another family in Concord,” Simon-Weisberg said.

The group of eight seeks financial compensation for the discrimination and a court order that prevents apartment complex managers from putting a limit on the amount of children parents can have in their homes.