Oh, Baby! Class Action Suit Alleges Broker Discrimination
This morning there are articles in the Times, the Sun, and the Post about a class-action lawsuit alleging that agents from Brown Harris Stevens’ Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights offices discriminated against a couple because they had a kid. The couple, Jamie Katz and Lisa Nocera, started looking to move from Manhattan to Brooklyn in…
This morning there are articles in the Times, the Sun, and the Post about a class-action lawsuit alleging that agents from Brown Harris Stevens’ Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights offices discriminated against a couple because they had a kid. The couple, Jamie Katz and Lisa Nocera, started looking to move from Manhattan to Brooklyn in 2006, when Nocera was pregnant. They found an apartment they wanted to rent in Brooklyn Heights but a broker from Brown Harris Stevens told them they couldn’t rent it because the landlord didn’t want kids in the unit. A year later the couple, who now had a baby, was once again trying to uproot to Brooklyn but were denied a Park Slope rental they wanted because the owner told another Brown Harris Stevens agent that the apartment had lead paint and therefore wasn’t safe for kids. Katz and Nocera are claiming that the refusal to rent to them violated federal, state, and city anti-discrimination laws, which specify that a landlord can’t say he won’t rent to prospective tenants based on “family status.” As the Times article points out, many brokers are unaware—or choose to ignore—the laws. The broker for the Park Slope apartment, for example, allegedly left a voice mail message for the couple saying the following: There was a child there before and … it was just a big, big, big problem and they’re just, they just absolutely are not going to go through that again…They just don’t want to have to deal with it. The suit seeks to ensure that Brown Harris Stevens agents comply with the law, and, if successful, it’ll probably influence the way brokers around the city behave towards would-be renters with children. “The brokers are enabling the discriminatory goals of the landlord,” the lawyer representing the couple told the Post.
Couple’s Suit Accuses Real Estate Firm of Bias Against Children [NY Times]
Real Estate Firm Sued Over Child Discrimination [NY Sun]
Apt. Suit: It’s Bias Vs. Kids [NY Post]
Photo by Lab2112.
Again, that’s all very well and good (and actually four units is considered a commercial space for financing and renting restrictions, so it has to be 3 units or fewer, one of which is owner-occupied), but a real estate agent cannot accept such a listing. So the legal violation is not against the owners, but against Brown Harris Stevens and its agents, who have violated their conditions of licensing.
The Fair Housing Act exempts owner-occupied multi-family dwellings of 4 units of fewer from the law. If it’s your property and you live there and there are no more than 3 other rental units, you can discriminate to your heart’s content. I’ll assume the brownstone owner didn’t live in the brownstone and therefore did not have the right to discriminate because the Fair Housing Justice Center must know this exemption and would not bring a class action suit otherwise. None of the newspaper articles mentioned this exemption to the Fair Housing Act, which just proves how lame mainstream reporting is.
http://www.vhemt.org/anobreed.htm
I’m extra smart. Shouldn’t I pass on my genes?
Well, could you pass a minimal intelligence test if one were required for a “license to breed”?
To find out, simply answer this question:
In light of the 40,000 children dying of malnutrition each day, and considering the number of species going extinct as a result of our excessive reproduction, do you think it would be a good idea to create another of yourself?
YES
NO
Thank you for playing.
http://www.vhemt.org/biobreed.htm
oh my gawd, ive held this in for two weeks.
riding the F train, on caroll st. stop, on gets this juppy with a semblance of a puppy,
shes dressed all sloppy, her hair looks like it hasnt been shampooed in months, this guy in a suit is with her, they start talking about pregnancy really loud,
she starts blabbing…i dont know if if supposed to read week 20 or week 21, i think i should ask doctor —–, so the guy says thats kind of silly to ask the doctor that, a baby is in its first year but its not one year old until after one year has passed, its not hard to figure out, she says i know its just so confusing,
i quickly look her over and realize she might have a little baby bump, maybe shes just a little pudgy there, im sitting down they are standing right in front of me, i think this is some sort of ploy to snag a seat from a chivalrous dude, but im not that dude….
the guy in a suit looks kind of gay, i swear hes looking at me giving me the secret gay eye contact deer in the headlights look…
but then they start kissing..and i realize this is a cuple, he is probably just the sperm donor…
so anyways, then she says she doesnt know if she can get her hair colored, which might be true, i dont know, but gawddangit lady, maybe some hot water and brush is not going to hurt your baby,,,
i dont remember the whole conversation, but i do remember the next vomit inducing subject… actually first she started on abouty how she can go to ——‘s wedding because THE BOOK (again referring to some bible like baby book) the book says you should not go father than 10 miles from your OB, the dude then responded why dont you just park yourself outside the doctors office for the next 6 months…
i wanted to give the dude a high five right there and say “good one, man, good one!”
he further goes on to mention that he received an email from —- congratulating him mentioning that you should go and do as much as you can because the last 3 months revolves around being close to a potty,,,
he called it a potty, im assumming this lady’s schedule will revolve around urinary functions…
i really dont remember the rest, but i did mention when i got off that not i remember why i never want to have kids…
gawd these people are awful…
i would definately not rent out to an expectant couple, these two nitwits solidified my decision.
Ysabelle,
Unfotunately Fair Housing Laws do not apply to everyone, as previous posters have stated. I have been a tenant and a landlord. I made my mistakes at both and would not care to be either again. In both cases a lack of knowledge lead to situations that could have been handled differently. Tenants and landlords need to educate themselves. HPD and many neighborhood housing and development groups offer great classes that are specific to NYC. After attending a mini-seminar, I learned what I could and could not do as a landlord in my six-family building and in the three-family where I lived. Rules were drastically different for the two. I eventually sold them at a bigger profit than I could have gotten from the rent rolls and I was glad to be rid of the headaches. I live in a one family without tenants and have found ways other than real estate, to invest my money.
ysabelle, spreading misinformation as usual.
Of course most of the posters here are renters. They spent the better part of the real estate downturn hoping it would get worse and worse. Oh well. Even Brownstoner himself went into the flea business (Brownstoner = Flea Business…W/T/F).
Anyway I own a whole building in the hood and would not rent to anyone. Sorry, I have a real job and dont need the money.
Brown Harris Stevens..well since when did we think they were credible. They never were and never will be the premiere Brooklyn firm.
Any comments, bring em on. I am not going to even check.
Try New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.
They are pro bono.
Can we refuse to rent to the tWhat? Notice his dissapearance once Section 8 entered this discussion/argument?