Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office has obtained a consent judgment and filed two lawsuits against multiple real estate companies and their agents for allegedly violating state anti-discrimination, lead paint and consumer protection laws.
Century 21 Access Properties LLC in Canton, Greater Metropolitan Real Estate Inc. of Malden and Central Real Estate of Quincy were sued for discrimination, according to a statement released by Coakley’s office.
Century 21 and its agent Isabelle Scorcia allegedly placed an advertisement on Craigslist for an apartment that mentioned the lead paint status of the property. According to Coakley, Century 21 discriminated against testers from the Fair Housing Center posing as families with children who responded to the ad. The real estate company asked the ages of children and told testers it would be a problem if they had a child under the age of six. The testers were also told it would cost too much money for the owner to de-lead the property, incorrectly stating that the property could not be rented to families with small children, and ultimately refusing to show the property to a tester.
Under state law, it is illegal to refuse to rent or steer families away from rental properties because they have young children whose presence triggers an owner’s duty to eliminate lead hazards that pose serious health risks.
Greater Metropolitan Real Estate (GMRE) and its employees Dotty Ryan and Gianna Rosa also discriminated against families with children, which included posting advertisements on Craigslist stating the lead status of properties.
GMRE employees asked about the ages of children and incorrectly informed testers that it is against the law to rent to someone with a child under six years old. Ultimately, GMRE refused to show the properties to testers with children while showing them freely to individuals without children, even offering to discount the rent to one tester because she did not have children under the age of six.
According to the complaint filed yesterday in Suffolk Superior Court against Central Real Estate LLC of Quincy and its agent Elizabeth J. Forde also posted advertisements on Craigslist that indicated the possible presence of lead paint. Central Real Estate employees asked about the ages of children, told testers that owners were not comfortable renting to a family with a baby and refused to rent to them.
The judgment and lawsuits are the result of a partnership with the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston and part of an ongoing statewide investigation into reports of widespread discriminatory Internet advertising on Craigslist.
The consent judgment against Century 21 requires the company to provide fair housing training to its employees, report all discrimination complaints to the attorney general’s office and maintain records of applications received. The defendants must also pay $15,000, with a payment of $10,000 to the Fair Housing Center and a suspended civil penalty of $5,000 to the commonwealth, pending compliance with the terms of the judgment. The judgment further requires the defendants to state "It is against the law of Massachusetts to refuse to rent to families with children" in future advertisements.
"Compliance with our anti-discrimination laws is an important obligation," Coakley said. "There is no legitimate reason to mention the lead status of a property in an advertisement unless it is de-leaded; otherwise it sends a message to families with children that they need not apply. Our investigation and testing conducted by the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston confirmed that brokers who advertised the lead status of rental units were likely to discriminate against families with children who later applied for the units. We will continue to monitor Craigslist and take action against landlords and real estate professionals who violate the law."
"We applaud the attorney general and her efforts to ensure that families with young children have equal access to housing which is free of lead paint and dust," said Davida Andelman, director of the Lead Action Collaborative. "This is especially important in Massachusetts where a large percentage of the housing stock was built before 1978; the year lead was banned in paint. It is unfortunate today there are still discriminatory practices used by property owners and the real estate industry. Only when all parties covered by the lead paint laws do their job can the framework for elimination of lead hazards succeed."
