Landlord Discriminated Against Tenants by Failing to Maintain Their Apartments

Latino rent-stabilized tenants sued landlord for housing discrimination. They claimed that they were treated differently from their Hasidic Jewish neighbors and that landlord failed to provide adequate accommodations and repairs to their apartments while providing preferential repairs and superior services to their Hasidic neighbors. Tenants claimed that any repairs made in their apartments were piecemeal and substandard. The court denied landlord's request to dismiss the case. Tenants met their initial burden in showing potential violations of housing discrimination laws. Tenants showed that their apartments were in dilapidated condition and that all open HPD violations were for apartments occupied by the Latino tenants. There was sufficient proof that landlord's challenged actions were motivated by discrimination. Landlord failed to set forth nondiscriminatory reasons for its failure to provide adequate accommodations and repairs. Some questions of fact remained that required a trial.

273 Lee Avenue Tenants Ass'n v. Steinmetz: Index No. 16-CV-6942, NYLJ No. 1534999617 (EDNY; 8/16/18; Kuntz, J)