WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS LANDLORDS AGREE TO PAY $23,000 TO RESOLVE HOUSING DISCRIMINATION CLAIMS, CREDIT REPORTING VIOLATIONS
Settlement
Provides Victim with Restitution and Future Rental Opportunity;
Requires Landlords to Implement New Credit Screening Policy
GREENFIELD
– Two Western Massachusetts property owners have agreed to pay $23,000
to resolve allegations that they discriminated against a 59-year-old man
due to his mental disability and receipt of rental assistance, and
failed to provide notice to prospective tenants after denying rental
applications because of poor credit, Attorney General Martha Coakley
announced today.
According to the complaint, filed with the consent judgment in Franklin
Superior Court, Adam Zaykoski and Jessalyn Zaykoski, of Gill, allegedly
refused to rent to a prospective tenant because of his disability, and
because he received a rental assistance subsidy from the Mental Health
Association (MHA). In addition, the Zaykoskis allegedly violated
consumer protection laws by failing to provide the prospective tenant,
as well as other applicants, with an “adverse action notice” that would
have alerted them to the fact that their rental applications were denied
because of poor credit histories.
“Equal
and fair access to housing is a right of all residents of the
Commonwealth,” AG Coakley said. “Massachusetts residents must be
provided with proper notice about the use of their credit histories in
housing decisions so that they can make sure that landlords base their
decisions on reports that are accurate.”
The
MHA is an organization that provides residential and support services
to enhance the quality of life for individuals challenged with mental
impairments. As part of the MHA rental assistance program, MHA signs the
lease on behalf of the subsidy recipient who in return pays a reduced
rental payment each month to the MHA.
Under the terms of the consent judgment, the Zaykoskis, who own and
manage a four-unit rental in Gill, will pay $16,000 to the prospective
tenant, and provide him with notice the first time any one-bedroom or
studio apartment becomes available in their building. The Zaykoskis
will also create and implement a credit screening policy that will
require them to send adverse action notices to any prospective tenant
who is denied an apartment due to credit history, and require them to
use an alternative process for determining whether a tenant who receives
public assistance has the ability to pay rent. Additionally, the
Zaykoskis will pay $5,000 to the Massachusetts Fair Housing Commission
and $2,000 to the Commonwealth, and at least one of them must attend
training on federal and Massachusetts fair housing laws.
Under
Massachusetts law, it is illegal to discriminate against housing
applicants because they receive public assistance or because of a
disability. It is also a violation of the Consumer Protection Law and
the Fair Credit Reporting Act to fail to provide adverse action notices
to prospective tenants whose rental applications are denied because of
credit histories. Consumers must be provided with notice of negative
decisions based on credit histories so that they have the opportunity to
correct inaccurate or incorrect information.
This matter was handled by Assistant Attorneys General Michelle Leung
and Ann Lynch of AG Coakley’s Civil Rights Division, with assistance
from Richard Steward of the Investigations Division.
