RE/MAX Landmark, a real estate company with 13 offices in Massachusetts, has been ordered to pay $10,000 to the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston because one of its agents allegedly refused to rent to families with young children.

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office entered into a settlement with the company after an agent in the company’s Dorchester office, James Harrison, refused to show rental units to fair housing testers who claimed to have young children. Harrison no longer works for RE/MAX Landmark.

Under federal and state fair housing laws, it is illegal to discriminate against an individual or a family seeking housing because of a person’s race, color, religion, sex, familial status (children or marital status), national origin, or handicap/disability.  These laws also prohibit discrimination in advertising, public housing and actions taken by Realtors, landlords, mortgage lenders and broker

According to a complaint referred to the Attorney General’s office, Harrison refused to show rental units to testers who said they had children on multiple occasions between April and July of 2008.

In addition to the $10,000 payment to the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston, the settlement also requires RE/MAX Landmark to train its personnel about fair housing laws and to include in its advertisements that it is an Equal Housing Opportunity broker.

"We are facing critical housing needs in the Commonwealth and the strain on families with children is particularly great," said Coakley.  "Realtors, brokers and landlords in Massachusetts should understand that discrimination against families with children is illegal, and we will seek to hold accountable those who break the law."

The case was handled by Brian Boyle, an attorney in Coakley’s Civil Rights Division.