Landlord Accused of Discriminating Against Voucher Holders Must Pay

A landlord with dozens of apartment buildings in Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan will have to pay back prospective tenants it illegally rejected because they sought to use government housing vouchers to help pay rent. Under an agreement with New York Attorney General Letitia James, the property owner and manager, Shamco Management Corp., will also have to rent dozens of apartments to people who pay with the help of vouchers, such as Section 8 or CityFHEPS.

New York bars discrimination against prospective tenants based on their source of income, including public assistance. The AG alleged that Shamco representatives used a variety of methods to do just that, including automatically marking voucher-holders “unqualified,” falsely bumping up rents beyond the maximum the vouchers can cover, lying that apartments were not available or simply ghosting them.

In addition to paying $400,000 in restitution, Shamco will have to rent at least 65 apartments in the coming year to people using vouchers or face financial penalties — and it will have to report to James’ office about its progress.

“Housing is a human right, and everyone deserves fair access to housing, regardless of their source of income,” James said in a statement.

An attorney for Shamco, Michelle Phillips of the firm Jackson Lewis, said in a statement:

“We deny any wrongdoing and assert that the allegations raised by the AG’s office were not corroborated, nor did Shamco have a full opportunity to respond to the complaint allegations. Shamco fully cooperated with the NY AG’s office and made the decision to enter into an agreement with the NY AG’s office rather than continue to incur litigation costs in defending its lawful policies as was done for the last three years.”

She added: “Our practices are fair and just. Decisions regarding the rental of units are made based on legitimate criteria and without regard to any prospective tenant’s source of income or any other protected group.”

Aaron Carr, whose organization Housing Rights Initiative spurred a previous voucher-related settlement with the owner of Yorkville Towers on the Upper East Side, said that James’ action should put all landlords on notice about their obligations to voucher-holders, who must be low income and typically pay 30% of their income in rent, with the rest paid by government agencies.

“She’s not just going after the small players but the big guys, which is how you create a deterrent effect,” said Carr. “The question of whether you get caught — it’s not just a matter of whether, but when.”

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