NYC secures largest civil rights settlement in city history for housing discrimination

New York City has secured the largest civil rights settlement in history, holding a prominent landlord accountable for rampant discrimination against housing voucher holders. Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday announced the landmark settlement, which imposed $1 million in civil penalties against Parkchester Preservation Management and secured 850 apartments to be set aside for voucher holders. The settlement represents the highest fine and largest number of apartments secured in a settlement by the New York City Commission on Human Rights.

Parkchester is a planned neighborhood developed in the 1940s with 171 buildings and 6,300 rental apartments.

According to the city, Parkchester Preservation Management excluded renters with housing vouchers from the apartment complex by requiring minimum income requirements, non-refundable deposits, and other stringent requirements.

Parkchester required applicants to meet specific levels of income dependent upon the monthly rent of an apartment and would not recognize the full voucher amount as part of the applicant’s income. These policies made it difficult for anyone with a voucher to qualify for a unit at the complex.

In the settlement, CCHR found that these policies were discriminatory against voucher holders and prevented them from obtaining housing. While the Parkchester apartment complex contains more than 6,000 units, only a fraction was occupied by voucher holders.

“Today, our administration is using the full power of the legal system to tell New York City tenants: we’ve got your back,” Adams said. “While we are tackling a generational housing shortage and affordability crisis, our administration is also going after the bad actors who prey on New Yorkers in the housing market.”

“With a record settlement and 850 homes set aside to ensure voucher holders have access to affordable housing units, this announcement is a win for the everyday New Yorkers in search of safe, stable housing, and a warning sign for any predatory group trying to harm tenants.”

Despite being made illegal by the city’s Human Rights Law in 2008, income-based housing discrimination remains one of the most frequently reported issues to CCHR. The agency aims to prevent future discriminatory incidents by providing guaranteed access to housing opportunities, giving monetary damages to complainants, and imposing civil penalties on guilty landlords.

The commission can also mandate meaningful measures like requiring training, designating a certain number of units for voucher holders, incentivizing real estate brokers to connect voucher holders with housing, and ensuring that it can continue to monitor ongoing practices.

One of CCHR’s efforts includes a first-of-its-kind partnership with Fordham University’s Real Estate Institute, launched in September 2023. The university now offers a course to stop illegal housing discrimination. By taking the course, realtors and brokers get 1.5 credits towards the renewal of their license, which is required every two years.

Announced in his State of the City address this year, Adams launched the city’s first-ever tenant protection cabinet, a multi-agency team that will create policies and long-term strategies to ensure safer, more equitable housing conditions for New Yorkers.

Earlier this week, the state held another New York City landlord accountable for discriminatory practices against voucher holders. On Tuesday, NY Attorney General Letitia James fined Shamco Management Corp., which owns or manages 1,300 units in 31 buildings in Harlem and Central Brooklyn, $400,000 for unlawfully denying housing opportunities to voucher holders.

The fines will be distributed to renters who were wrongfully denied housing, and Shamco will also set aside at least 65 units for tenants with rental subsidies and grant them at least one renewal lease.

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