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MONTGOMERY TRAILER PARK OWNER TO PAY $30,000

TO SETTLE ALLEGATIONS OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A Montgomery, Alabama, trailer park owner will pay $30,000 to resolve allegations that he discriminated against African American home seekers, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department.

The settlement, filed today in U.S. District Court in Montgomery, resolves a complaint filed by the Justice Department in April 1998, alleging that David Damron, owner of the Court Street Trailer Park, also known as Bruner Trailer Park, in Montgomery, engaged in a pattern of racial discrimination.

"This kind of conduct is particularly objectionable not only because of its blatant nature, but also because it was inflicted upon people who had very limited housing choices because of their modest incomes," said Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. "It is important for housing providers whose tenants or prospective tenants have few housing options to recognize that discriminatory rental practices will not be tolerated."

The Justice Department found that Mr. Damron conditioned tenancy to prospective white tenants upon representations that the prospective tenants would not have any African American visitors, and evicted and otherwise harassed white tenants who had African American visitors. It was also found that he instructed at least one agent responsible for screening applicants not to rent to African-Americans and to tell any African Americans who inquired about available trailers that the landlord had just rented the last trailer, while telling other tenants that he would not allow African Americans to move into the trailer park. Damron also directed African Americans who inquired about available trailers to another trailer park occupied predominantly by African Americans.

"This case involved overt and odious discrimination against African American and low income citizens, who simply sought to exercise their fundamental American right of access to affordable housing and the freedom of association," said Redding Pitt, U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama. "Today's lawsuit and agreement signal again our determination to vindicate the basic rights of citizenship."

Under the agreement, Mr. Damron will:

• admit that he violated the Fair Housing Act, conceding that the Justice Department has significant evidence of racial discrimination which supports a finding by the court that he has engaged in a pattern of discrimination on the basis of race;

• create a $10,000 fund to compensate any persons identified as victims of the alleged discriminatory practices who no longer reside in the trailer park; and,

• provide $20,000 in rent credits available to identified victims currently residing in the trailer park.

The Justice Department's case stems from complaints filed with the Central Alabama

Fair Housing Center in Montgomery and from fair housing testing conducted by the

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The FBI "tests" compared the treatment received by black and white agents posing as prospective renters who visited the trailer park to inquire about available trailers. After being informed of the investigation, the Justice Department alleges that Damron began to rent trailers to African Americans, but that he discriminated against them in the terms and conditions of rental, such as requests for repairs, based on race.

Individuals who believe they may have been the victims of housing discrimination at Bruner Trailer Park should call the Housing Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department at 1-800-896-7743 or the U.S. Attorney's Office at 205-223-7280.

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