Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Targets Apartment Complex

The federal government has filed a civil rights lawsuit under the Fair Housing Act against the Burgundy Gardens apartment complex in Valley Cottage, according to Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

"The fact that discrimination in the housing market still occurs in this day and age argues for our continued vigilance and strong enforcement of the Fair Housing Act," Bharara said. "As this lawsuit demonstrates, we will not tolerate the unequal treatment of individuals looking for a home or in any other area that is covered by the civil rights laws. We will seek to hold accountable those who engage in this conduct."

The lawsuit charges that the 96-unit Burgundy Gardens Apartments complex has engaged in racially discriminatory practices since at least August 2007. The lawsuit charges that Burgundy Gardens failed to inform African-American prospective tenants about available apartments, or told African-Americans that certain apartments are not available, while telling non-African-Americans that the apartments were in fact available.

Rockland Commissioner of Human Rights S. Ram Nagubandi said the lawsuit is an offshoot of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation of the local housing market. Nagubandi said the agency discovered the problems at Burgundy Gardens by sending in African-Americans and non-African-Americans working for the Department of Justice to apply for apartment rentals.

The lawsuit also charges that Burgundy Gardens told African-American prospective tenants that the prices for rental apartments were higher than the prices quoted to non-African-Americas.

Bharara said the complaint seeks an injunction against the the discriminatory practices, as well as monetary damages for victims of discrimination and a civil penalty against Burgundy Gardens, LLC.

Nagubandi said his office does get complainst of housing discrimination based on race, however, he said the biggest problem the county currently faces is discrimination based on disability.

"I seems that if someone is in a wheelchair or has some disabilitiy some landlords don't want to rent to them," said Nagubandi. "Sometimes they just don't want to deal with giving the person a handicapped parking spot near the apartment."

Nagubandi said the federal review of housing practices in Rockland continues.