IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
v.
CIVIL ACTION NO: 4:00-cv-221LN
ALDEN M. WALLACE, III;
PRISCILLA PRINGLE WALLACE;
NELL WALLACE;
AMERIHOMES, LLC;
WALLACE RENTALS, LLC;
THE MANAGEMENT GROUP, LLC;
and
WALLACE MANAGEMENT &
DEVELOPERS, CORP.,
Defendants.
_____________________________________
COMPLAINT
The United States of America alleges:
- This action is brought by the United States to enforce
the Fair Housing Act, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968,
as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 42 U.S.C.
§§ 3601 et seq.
- This Court has jurisdiction over this action under
28 U.S.C. § 1345 and 42 U.S.C. § 3614.
- Venue is proper under 28 U.S.C. § 1391(b) because the
events and omissions giving rise to this claim occurred largely
in this district and because a substantial part of the property
that is the subject of the action is situated in this district.
- Defendant Alden M. Wallace, III ("Alden Wallace") is
married to Defendant Priscilla Pringle Wallace ("Priscilla
Wallace"). Defendants Alden Wallace and Priscilla Wallace, who
reside in Meridian, Mississippi, are in the business of buying,
selling, developing, and managing residential rental properties,
including such properties in Meridian and Lauderdale County.
They own several residential rental properties in Meridian.
- Defendant Nell Wallace is a resident of Meridian,
Mississippi. She is the mother of Alden Wallace. Nell Wallace
owns residential rental properties in Meridian and/or Lauderdale
County.
- Defendant Amerihomes, LLC, ("Amerihomes") is a
Mississippi domestic limited liability company formed on or about
March 17, 1997, of which Alden M. Wallace and West Alabama Lime,
Inc. are members. Amerihomes owns numerous single family
dwellings in Meridian and may own or manage other residential
rental properties, including such properties in Meridian and
Lauderdale County.
- Defendant Wallace Rentals, LLC, ("Wallace Rentals") is
a Mississippi domestic limited liability company formed on or
about October 15, 1999, of which Alden Wallace is the registered
agent. Wallace Rentals owns numerous single family dwellings in
Meridian and may own or manage other residential rental
properties, including such properties in Meridian and Lauderdale
County.
- Defendant The Management Group, LLC, ("The Management
Group") is a Mississippi domestic limited liability company
formed on or about October 15, 1999, of which Bill Johnson is the
registered agent. The Management Group owns the Valley Mobile
Home Park on Valley Road in Meridian and may own or manage other
residential rental properties, including such properties in
Meridian and Lauderdale County.
- Defendant Wallace Management & Developers, Corp.,
("Wallace Management") is a Mississippi corporation that was
incorporated on or about January 13, 1998 and has been engaged in
the development and sale of residential real estate. Alden
Wallace is its president and Priscilla Wallace is its secretary.
- Defendants own and/or manage more than 100
residential rental units, including single-family homes, mobile
home parks, and apartment complexes in Meridian and Lauderdale
County. These residential rental properties are dwellings within
the meaning of the Fair Housing Act. 42 U.S.C. § 3602(b).
- Since at least October 1999, Defendants, individually
and through their agents, are and have been engaged in
discriminatory housing practices based on race or color. The
discriminatory practices include:
- For individual rental dwellings, designating
whether they were to be rented to white tenants or
black tenants;
- Refusing to rent dwellings designated for white
persons to black persons or mixed-race households;
- Steering persons toward or away from dwellings
based on race;
- Excluding blacks from renting at certain
multifamily complexes and mobile home parks, such
as the Louie Lee apartment building on Frontage
Road and Long's Lane Mobile Home Park, in
Meridian, and limiting the number of blacks
permitted to live at others, such as Valley Mobile
Home Park, also in Meridian.
- Imposing more onerous leasing terms upon black
persons than white persons and denying leasing and
other services connected with the dwellings to
black persons that were available to white
persons;
- Wrongfully evicting or constructively evicting
black persons or mixed-race couples or families
who were placed by employees, contrary to
Defendants' stated discriminatory policies, in
dwellings reserved for white tenants; and
- Making explicit statements with respect to the
rental of dwellings that indicate a preference,
limitation, or discrimination based on race or
color.
- Defendants carried out their discriminatory policies
by coding tenants, prospective tenants, and vacant units
according to race, using "w" or "#1" to refer to white persons
and dwelling units reserved for white persons and "b" or "#2" to
refer to black persons and dwelling units designated for black
persons. Defendants informed individuals who called to inquire
about available housing who "sounded black" only of "#2"
vacancies. Defendants required their agents and employees to
record all inquiries regarding housing as "#1" or "#2" based on
the perceived race of the homeseeker.
- The conduct and statements of Defendants, including
that described in paragraphs 11 and 12 above, constitutes
discrimination against persons because of race or color in the
rental of dwellings in violation of the Fair Housing Act, as
follows:
- A refusal to rent or otherwise make unavailable or deny
dwellings to persons because of race or color, in
violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(a);
- Discrimination against persons in the conditions or
privileges of the rental of dwellings, and in the
provision of services in connection therewith, because
of race or color, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(b);
- The making of statements with respect to the rental of
dwellings that indicates a preference, limitation, or
discrimination on the basis of race or color, in
violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(c); and
- The representation to persons because of race or color
that dwellings are not available for inspection or
rental when such dwellings are in fact so available, in
violation of 42 U.S.C. § 3604(d).
- The conduct of the Defendants as described above
constitutes:
- A pattern or practice of resistance to the full
enjoyment of rights granted by the Fair Housing Act, 42
U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq.; and
- A denial to a group of persons of rights granted by the
Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. §§ 3601 et seq., which
denial raises an issue of general public importance.
- Persons who have been victims of Defendants'
discriminatory housing practices and may have suffered damages as
a result of Defendants' conduct described above. Such persons
are aggrieved persons as defined in 42 U.S.C. § 3602(i).
- Defendants' conduct described above was intentional,
willful, and taken in reckless disregard for the rights of
others.
WHEREFORE, the United States prays that the Court enter an
order that:
- Declares that Defendants' policies and practices, as
alleged herein, violate the Fair Housing Act;
- Enjoins Defendants, their officers, employees, and
agents, and all other persons in active concert or participation
with any of them, from:
- Discriminating because of race or color against any
person in any aspect of the rental or sale of a dwelling;
- Failing or refusing to notify the public that dwellings
owned or operated by Defendants are available to all persons
on a nondiscriminatory basis;
- Failing or refusing to take such affirmative steps as
may be necessary to restore, as nearly as practicable, the
victims of Defendants' unlawful practices to the position
they would have been in but for the discriminatory conduct;
and
- Failing or refusing to take such affirmative steps as
may be necessary to prevent the recurrence of any
discriminatory conduct in the future and to eliminate, to
the extent practicable, the effects of Defendants' unlawful
housing practices;
- Awards such damages as would fully compensate each
person aggrieved by Defendants' discriminatory housing practices
for injuries caused by Defendants' pattern or practice of
discriminatory conduct, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 3614(d)(1)(B);
- Awards each person aggrieved by Defendants' pattern or
practice of discrimination punitive damages, pursuant to
42 U.S.C. § 3614(d)(1)(B); and
- Assesses a civil penalty against each defendant in the
amount authorized by 42 U.S.C. § 3614(d)(1)(C), in order to
vindicate the public interest.
The United States further prays for such additional relief
as the interests of justice may require.
Janet Reno,
Attorney General
Bill Lann Lee,
Assistant Attorney General
Joan A. Magagna,
Chief, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
Isabelle Thabault
Deputy Chief
Elizabeth Tucci
Attorneys, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 65998
Washington D.C. 20035-5988
(202) 353-9707
Brad Pigott
United States Attorney
Mitzi Dease Paige
Assistant United States Attorney
188 East Capitol Street
Suite 500, One Jackson Pl.
Jackson, MS 39201
(601) 973-2840
Mississippi Bar No. 6014