20 landlords, property companies sued for discrimination by housing watchdog

A nonprofit housing watchdog group is suing 20 Boston-area property companies and real estate brokers for allegedly discriminating against low-income tenants.

The lawsuit, brought by the Lawyers for Civil Rights and Handley Farah & Anderson on behalf of the group Housing Rights Initiative, alleges landlords and brokers refused to rent to tenants with government-subsidized housing vouchers.

Lawyers for Civil Right said in a statement that the nonprofit used "testers" to act as prospective tenants requesting information about apartments. The companies and brokers at first "responded positively" to the inquiries, but then allegedly refused to accept housing vouchers, often called "Section 8" vouchers.

The suit, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, includes screenshots of alleged conversations in which landlords and property brokers appear to tell prospective tenants they do not accept the vouchers.

"One takeaway from our year-long investigation is that housing discrimination is alive and well in Boston," Aaron Carr, founder and executive director of Housing Rights Initiative, told WBUR.

It is illegal for landlords in Massachusetts to refuse to rent to someone because they are receiving housing assistance. Carr said the goal of the lawsuit is to ensure real estate companies comply with the law and do not unfairly refuse to rent to people with Section 8 vouchers.

He said the defendants named in the suit represent only "the tip of a very discriminatory iceberg," claiming many other landlords and brokers engage in similar practices.

"We want this lawsuit to send a message to every real estate company in Boston, in Massachusetts," he said, "that if you are discriminating against families with housing vouchers, the question of whether you will be caught is not a matter of if, but when."

Lawyers for Civil Rights said discrimination against voucher-holders continues patterns of de facto racial segregation among Boston neighborhoods, as residents of color are relegated to using housing subsidies only in low-income areas with fewer public resources than predominantly white neighborhoods.

Denying prospective tenants with vouchers delays their efforts to secure housing, the group's statement said, causing low-income residents to endure longer stays at homeless shelters or "substandard dwellings."

Douglas Quattrochi, the executive director of the trade association MassLandlords, says the state should provide better training to landlords on navigating housing laws and help simplify the process of renting to those with housing vouchers. (Quattrochi says none of the defendants appear to be members of the association.)

The lawsuit comes as Massachusetts grapples with rising home costs and a short stock of housing, which disproportionately impacts low-income residents and people of color.

The Housing Rights Initiative has brought similar lawsuits against real estate companies in New York City.

"This is a national issue," Carr said, "but in Boston it seems particularly pronounced, which makes sense because Boston has a very tight market and in tight markets a lot of times you see shenanigans like this one."

With reporting by WBUR's John Bender