Brooklyn Brokers Discriminated Against Low-Income Renters: Suit

BROOKLYN, NY — Five apartments in Brooklyn are among nearly 50 across the city where brokers refused to rent to investigators posing as low-income tenants, according to a new lawsuit filed in federal court this week.

The lawsuit alleges that 88 landlords and real estate brokers refused to rent apartments to prospective tenants who said they were using Section 8 vouchers, a federal housing assistance grant. Such a refusal is illegal in New York City.

The investigation began in 2019, when workers from the Housing Rights Initiative pretending to be low-income renters called brokers and recorded their conversations.

When it came to the five apartments in Brooklyn, brokers and one landlord either explicitly or implicitly said that Section 8 vouchers would not be welcome, according to the lawsuit. One company, Compass, was involved in two properties named in the lawsuit.

“No, we don’t do Section 8 Vouchers in this building,” a Compass broker told an investigator who called about an apartment on Bergen Street in Boerum Hill.

The apartments

Here are the Brooklyn apartments that brokers refused to rent to prospective tenants using Section 8 vouchers, according to the lawsuit:

65 Bergen St.

• On April 16, 2020, a broker from Compass told an investigator “No, we don’t do Section 8 Vouchers in this building," the lawsuit claims.

415 Stratford Rd.

• On August 13, 2020, a broker from Compass told an investigator “No, I’m sorry, there’s no programs in this building," adding after having confirmed the apartment was available, "I don’t have any small program apartments right now, I have four-bedrooms,” the lawsuit alleges.

955 Coney Island Ave.

• On February 26, 2020, a representative for the owners of the property told an investigator, “We don’t take that, sorry” when asked about the voucher. When the investigator asked if there was a reason that her voucher would not be accepted, the representative said “We don’t take it," the lawsuit alleges.

469 Clinton Ave.

• On May 20, 2020, a broker with 3Location3.Co Realty told an investigator, “No. She won’t take any programs whatsoever, the owner. And they won’t take two people in a studio.” When the investigator asked the broker "if she could work with her because it was urgent as she and her daughter were in a shelter," the representative replied “Yeah, I’m a broker. It’s the owner. She won’t take any programs. She doesn’t take them in any of her buildings . . . I can tell you this one won’t work for you,” the lawsuit alleges.

785 Ocean Pkwy:

• On June 25, 2020, a broker with Alpine Realty told an investigator “Uh, no, no, he doesn’t--he’s not in that--no, I’m sorry, not right now" when asked about the voucher, the lawsuit alleges.

The suit is demanding an end to the practices as well as unspecified monetary damages.

Reached for comment on Tuesday, Alpine Realty told Patch that the listing on Ocean Parkway was posted without the company's knowledge and was not affiliated with the office.

They were unaware of the lawsuit until Patch's call and said it is the first complaint in their 60 years of business.

"Alpine Realty finds this kind of behaviour shameful, abhorrent and unacceptable," broker Harry Chalbis said by email. "...This agent has not been with us for over a year, and unbeknownst to us, uses the Alpine Realty name for listings that were never in the office, with landlords that we have never heard of, spoken to, or dealt with, for her convenience. She will be confronted, and held liable for her unacceptable behavior."

A Compass spokesperson, also reached Tuesday, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Attempts to reach representatives associated with the other properties were unsuccessful.

During HRI's investigation, nearly half of all calls by investigators posing as voucher holders were met with discrimination, according to the organization.

The investigators found that discrimination was most prevalent in higher-income, majority-white neighborhoods, including the Brooklyn properties, which were in Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, Coney Island, Midwood, and Kensington.

More than 80 percent of New Yorkers who use housing vouchers are Black and Hispanic, HRI said.

"When you discriminate against tenants with rental assistance, you discriminate against tenants of color," Aaron Carr, the founder of the Housing Rights Initiative, said in a news conference this week.

"Every time a landlord saw my voucher ... their whole facial expression changed," said Nancy Padilla, a tenant and HRI client, during the news conference. "Immediately, they would turn me away."

Related coverage: Dozens Of Landlords, Brokers Accused Of Housing Bias: Lawsuit