1998 Annual Report

This year the Council has been able to expand all three of these programs significantly.

The year 1998 was a “difficult” one for the Council’s enforcement program. Cases such as the following description of the Council’s lawsuits against local newspapers, have made it difficult. Victories followed by defeats followed by more victories make the struggle to end housing discrimination a constant battle. The Council had hoped that 30 years after the enactment of the Fair Housing Act, the battle to enforce housing discrimination law would be over. On the contrary, it sometimes seems very discouraging to feel that if the Council ceased its enforcement activities housing discrimination would only increase again. But the dedicated staff and board battle on...

On March 31, the Third Circuit Court of appeals ruled on the Council’s cases against the Main Line Times and Montgomery Newspapers. It determined that the Council did not have legal standing to sue the two newspapers over illegal housing advertising. The Court’s reasoning took the form of a narrowing of the definition of "injury" under the Constitution. Such injury now may only be the costs of a non-routine investigation of a discriminator or a non-routine education effort. Litigation costs were specifically ruled not within the definition of "injury." The Court dismissed the FHC's claim against Montgomery Newspapers and The Main Line Times for illegal advertising discrimination finding no injury from those specific papers. The Court did uphold that fair housing groups have standing to sue even though there is no bona fide complainant.

On August 18, in FHCSP v. The Mercury Newspaper, the first case interpreting the two Court decisions, a federal court ruled that the Council still has the legal right to sue a newspaper and those who advertise in it for publishing discriminatory housing advertising. The Court found that the Council was “forced to...divert[] itself from its counseling and education activities and begin a prolonged investigation of The Mercury to identify the extent and nature of The Mercury's discriminatory activity." The FHC also had to "counteract the effects of the allegedly discriminatory ads" by having to "teach the law, the meaning of the law, and the method to follow the law" to various newspaper, Realtor, and landlord trade groups and companies due, in part, to the over one thousand allegedly discriminatory ads published over several years by The Mercury.

As we enter 1999, two advertising cases are still pending against local newspapers. The first is FHCSP v. Montgomery Newspapers for the paper’s retaliating against the Council in its efforts to stop the paper from publishing illegal housing advertising by making of false disparaging statements about the Council. The second is FHCSP v. The Mercury for allegedly publishing over one thousand discriminatory ads.

Complaint Intake

In addition to the countless persons staff counseled on the telephone for various housing related issues, the Council received more than 75 bona fide complaints of housing discrimination related problems this year. The following charts show what type of complaints were received and where those complaints came from.

Through a grant from the U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Develpment in its Fair Housing Initiatives Program, the Council was able to expand the office staff to include Deborah A. Butler, Esq. as it’s new Test Coordinator. Deborah is an attorney who has long desired to join an organization such as ours that has a practical hands-on ability to fight for civil rights. Deborah has experience as a judicial law clerk and an Assistant City Solicitor, and has handled various civil rights, real estate and lending practices. The Council’s testing program and tester base has burgeoned under Deborah’s leadership. The Council now has a wide variety of more than 100 testers. The Council is prepared to perform housing investigations based on race and national origin (for African American, Hispanic, Asian and Indian issues), gender, age and for a wide range of disabilities.

The Council performed 77 tests to determine compliance with fair housing laws in 1998. These tests resulted in several findings of evidence indicating discriminatory housing practices. Many of these investigations are ongoing, several of which will be filed in calendar year 1999. Others are still under investigation or the findings showed similar treatment between testers visiting the property. The following charts show the type of protected class tested for and the county of the test sites.

Complaints & Lawsuits

Besides the two federal lawsuits mentioned earlier against local newspapers, the Council currently has one other lawsuit outstanding. This case is against Ridley Management Company and alleges Familial Status discrimination. Watch for more information about this case in an upcoming Fairways newsletter. In addition, the Council assisted in an investigation at Highgate, an assisted living facility in Paoli. George Head, a wheelchair user with a support dog was denied housing because of his disability. In addition, it was discovered that this new construction had not been built in compliance with federal accessibility guidelines. A federal lawsuit has been filed by the Disabilities Law Project regarding this case and it should reach settlement or trial sometime in 1999.

Seven complaints of housing discrimination were settled this year at the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the US Dept. of Housing & Urban Development, and Federal District Court. The result was that more than 450 units of housing were opened to members of protected classes throughout the Delaware Valley. In the majority of cases part of the settlement required the housing providers to receive training so that they will know how to run their business in compliance with fair housing laws. The following chart shows the types of complaints that were settled.

Finally, in the continuing saga in the case of FHCSP, et al v Eliza Keulian, a federal judge ordered Ms. Keulian in July to sell her property because of her lack of regard for the judge’s previous orders and her inability to manage her property in compliance with the Fair Housing Act.

In March, 1997 the Council won a jury verdict against Eliza Keulian and awarded seven plaintiffs and the Council $28,000. The jury found Ms. Keulian liable for discriminating against homeseekers by telling them that their children were diseased, and informing an African American homeseeker that “this doesn’t matter anyway, because I don’t rent to Blacks.” In June, 1997, Federal District Judge Anita B. Brody issued an injunction against Ms. Keulian stating that she may no longer manage her property. Ms. Keulian’s attorney, Edward C. Harkin, was appointed to manage all aspects of her rental units for a period of five years. The injunction stated that Mr. Harkin was expected to engage a professional real estate management firm that would take over all functions regarding the rental, management and maintenance functions.

The Council had hoped this would finally bring closure to Ms. Keulian’s long history of discrimination. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. In October, 1997 the Council again began receiving complaints about Ms. Keulian. The Council’s investigation uncovered further acts of familial status discrimination and possibly racial discrimination and found that she was still managing her property. The Council filed motions of contempt of court against both Ms. Keulian and her attorney. In July of this year, the Judge found Ms. Keulian in contempt of court and ordered her to sell the property. Ms. Keulian agreed to sell the property, the new owner was to hire a professional firm, and the building was to be renovated to correct township code violations. Final motions on this case are still pending before the court.

“It’s unfortunate that this had to happen,” stated Council Executive Director James Berry. “The Council has been dealing with Ms. Keulian for more than seven years. She has had ample time to change her policies and practices, yet her behavior has showed that she is completely unwilling to do so. The Council is not here to put landlords out of business, but in this case it seems the only way to gain compliance with the Fair Housing Act.”

Council staff spoke at more than 50 agencies and events in 1998. These fair housing presentations provide one of the Council’s most important ways of disseminating information about consumer’s rights when renting or purchasing housing, for housing counselors and advocates to recognize possible discrimination when their clients encounter it, and for housing providers to understand their rights and responsibilities. The Following is a list of the many events Council staff spoke at this year:

Through a grant from Delaware County’s Office of Housing & Community Development through their Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, the Council has developed a full array of training materials. These materials have been used to train consumers, housing counselors, disability advocates, and housing providers. The Council has also received CDBG grants from Bucks and Chester Counties. These grants are for educational activities in fiscal year 1999 and we are looking forward to building a long term relationship with these counties for educational activities for years to come.

The Council published two issues of its fair housing newsletter Fairways this year. This newsletter once referred to as the “cutting edge of fair housing issues in the region” by Tri-County MLS, currently has a circulation of almost 900 members, consumers, housing providers, government employees, and fair housing advocates across the nation.

The Council has had great opportunity to build relationships and partnerships with many other organizations this year. These partnerships have helped develop a diverse network of housing related services to members of all the protected classes. These organizations include: The Disabilities Law Project, Freedom Valley Disability Center, The Pennsylvania Low Income Housing Coalition, The Pennsylvania Federation of Housing Counselors and Agencies, The Community Housing & Human Relations Board, The Home Builders Association of Delaware & Chester Counties, The National Community Reinvestment Coalition, The National Association of Homebuilders Research Center, and The Delaware County Fair Housing Task Force.

The Council trained several housing providers this year in Fair Housing Law. Often providers must attend these training’s after having been a party to a complaint, but the Council is also available to train housing providers who want to provide continuing education for their employees. The Council has an excellent curriculum developed for these programs with materials, tests and certifications. The Council has already received invitations for training’s in the coming year.

In conjunction with a grant from Delaware County’s Office of Housing and Community Development from their Community Development Block Grant Program, the Council developed a curriculum to train mortgage lenders in Fair Lending Practices this year. As part of the preparation of the curriculum, Council Assistant Director, Jan Chadwick, attended a training certification program sponsored by the National Fair Housing Alliance. Ms. Chadwick is currently the only person certified as a fair lending trainer in the state of Pennsylvania.