FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1995                         (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


   SOUTH FLORIDA APARTMENT OWNER WHO REFUSED TO RENT TO AFRICAN
AMERICANS TO PAY $1.2 MILLION UNDER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SETTLEMENT

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The owner of a 694-unit North Miami Beach
apartment complex who refused to rent to African Americans will pay
$1.2 million in damages and penalties under an agreement reached
with the Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney's Office in
Miami, as well as a local fair housing organization and a group of
African Americans.  
     It is the largest settlement ever obtained by the Justice
Department in a rental housing discrimination case based on race.
     The agreement, approved last night by the U.S. District Court
in Miami, resolves a suit alleging that the owner of the Beverly
Hills Club Rental Apartments charged black tenants higher rents
than whites and falsely informed black apartment-seekers that no
units were available.  
     It is the second time the Justice Department has accused the
owner, Jose Milton, of discriminating against minorities.
     In May 1993, two African Americans who had been told that no
units were available filed a complaint with Housing Opportunities
Project for Excellence or "HOPE".  HOPE, a fair housing
organization in Miami, sent trained pairs of black and white
"testers" posing as prospective tenants to the complex to inquire
about apartments.  When the testing revealed that blacks were
treated differently than whites, HOPE sued Milton and his real
estate company, United Property Management, Inc., as well as the
rental agents and managers of the complex.
     Following an independent investigation, the U.S. Attorney's
Office in Miami together with the Justice Department filed a
separate suit in February 1994 accusing the owner of violating the
federal Fair Housing Act by discriminating on the basis of race. 
The two suits were later combined.
     "To deny a person an apartment because of their race is to
deny that person their rightful share of the American Dream," said
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick. 
"Today's agreement signals our commitment to vigorously enforce our
nation's anti-discrimination laws."
     Patrick noted that similar testing under a Justice Department
nation-wide fair housing testing program has produced 28 federal
suits resulting in settlement totaling over $1.5 million.  The
Justice Department is currently conducting testing in over a dozen
cities across the country.
     Based on evidence gathered through its testing program, the
Justice Department in June filed six suits in Miami alleging
discrimination by the owners and operators of 13 apartment
complexes in Boca Raton and Kendall.
     "No American should be denied housing because of the color of
their skin,"  said Kendall Coffey, U.S. Attorney in Miami.
     Coffey, who oversaw the settlement talks, said that under the
agreement the defendants will:
    pay $650,000 to HOPE and the individual plaintiffs and
     $200,000 in civil penalties to the U.S. treasury;

    create two funds totaling $375,000 to compensate any
     individuals who may subsequently be identified as victims of
     the discrimination;

    advertise in local papers to locate possible victims of the
     discrimination; and,

    fund future testing by HOPE;

     In a similar case against Milton in 1988, the Justice
Department alleged that he engaged in discrimination in the
operation of the Beverly Hills complex and several other rental
properties that he owned.  The case was settled in June 1989.
     Individuals who believe that they were discriminated against
at the Beverly Hills Club Rental Apartments should call Veronica
Harrell-James at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami at 305-536-4238.
  Individuals who believe that they were discriminated against
anywhere in the nation can contact the Department of Housing and
Urban Development at 1-800-669-9777.
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