WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Fair Housing Alliance filed a housing discrimination complaint with the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Arkansas Fair Housing Commission against Bailey Properties for refusing to rent to Latinos and discriminating in the conditions or terms of rental based on national origin and/or race.
Bailey Properties, now operates as part of BSR Trust, LCC, which owns and operates close to 19,000 apartments throughout the southeastern United States.
“Bailey Properties has absolutely no excuse for discriminating against Latinos in this day and age,” said Shanna L. Smith, President and CEO of NFHA. “They have a duty to ensure their employees understand and follow the requirements of the law. Discrimination based on national origin or race will not be tolerated.”
An undercover investigation of Bailey Properties by the National Fair Housing Alliance found that apartment managers failed to provide prospective Latino tenants with a rental application or did so only after a significant period of time following the request. By contrast, prospective white renters promptly received follow up emails from the apartment managers with a copy of the application and the other information that the complex needed to process their applications.
In one instance, a white renter and a Latino renter both called on the same day asking about available apartments and information on applying. The white renter received an application via email within eight minutes along with other detailed application requirements and information. By contrast, the Latino renter had to wait 12 days for a response which included only the application and no additional required information, effectively eliminating that apartment as an option for someone who was planning to move in short order.
For its investigation, NFHA used white and Latino individuals, or testers, posing as prospective renters. In all cases, Latino testers were somewhat better qualified to rent the apartments than their white counterparts – they had higher incomes, a longer job history, and other better qualifying characteristics.
The National Fair Housing Alliance is represented in this matter by Steve Dane and Jamie Crook of Relman, Dane & Colfax, PLLC.
The Fair Housing Act makes it illegal to discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status (pregnant women or children in the home), and disability.
