Housing And Civil Enforcement Cases Documents

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
     Plaintiff,

v.

C.A. No. 94CV1126 (JEI)

CITY OF WILDWOOD, NEW JERSEY;
DIANE TULLIE, City Inspector;
and WILLIAM GANNON, City
Inspector,
     Defendants.

__________________________________

The United States of America alleges:

1. This action is brought by the Attorney General on behalf of the United States to enforce Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act, as amended by the 1988 Fair Housing Amendments Act, 42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq., pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §3614.
2. This court has jurisdiction of this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §3614.
3. Defendant City of Wildwood is a municipality located in the State of New Jersey within the District of New Jersey.
4. Defendant Diane Tullie is a property maintenance inspector for the City of Wildwood. Defendant Tullie is, among other things, responsible for enforcing the City's Property Maintenance Code.
5. Defendant William Gannon is an electrical inspector for the City of Wildwood. Defendant Gannon is, among other things, responsible for enforcing the City's Electrical Code.
6. The City of Wildwood exercises authority over properties within its boundaries. The City has enacted and enforced health, safety and occupancy regulations, including the minimum occupancy provisions set forth in the Property Maintenance Code of the City of Wildwood.
7. In 1990, the defendant City enacted an ordinance which limits the number of persons who may occupy a residential dwelling based on the size of the dwelling. Pursuant to the terms of Ordinance 265-90, a dwelling unit to be occupied by 1, 2, or 3 persons must be at least 550 square feet in size; a dwelling unit to be occupied by 4 to 5 persons must be at least 800 square feet in size; a dwelling unit to be occupied by 6 to 7 persons must be at least 950 square feet in size.
8. The occupancy limitations imposed by the City ordinance are significantly more restrictive than required by the State of New Jersey, and also are significantly more restrictive than model occupancy standards that are suggested for municipalities in the United States. For example, while the City of Wildwood requires a family of four persons to live in a dwelling that is at least 800 square feet in size, the State of New Jersey and generally recognized model codes would permit the family to reside in a dwelling that is approximately 450 square feet in size.
9. The purpose and effect of the occupancy limitation ordinance is to limit or preclude families with children from residing within the City of Wildwood.
10. Hispanic families with children have been a particular target of the enforcement of the ordinance as effectuated by Defendants Tullie and Gannon.

11. Plaintiff realleges and herein incorporates by reference the allegations set forth in above paragraphs 1 through 10.
12. By enacting, and enforcing the minimum occupancy standards in the manner described in paragraphs 7 through 11, above, the defendants have:
    1. made unavailable and denied dwellings to persons because of their familial status and national origin in violation of 42 U.S. C. §3604 (a);
    2. discriminated in the terms and conditions of the rental of dwellings because of familial status and national origin in violation of 42 U.S.C. §3604(b); and
    3. made, printed, or published, statements with respect to the rental of dwellings that indicate a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on familial status and national origin, in violation of 42 U.S.C. §3604(c).
13. The conduct of the defendants described above constitutes:
    1. A pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of rights secured by Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (the Fair Housing Act), as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1588, 42 U.S.C. §§3601, et seq; and
    2. A denial to a group of persons of rights granted by Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (the Fair Housing Act), as amended by the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988, 42 U.S.C. §3601 et seq., which denial raises an issue of general public importance.
14. The defendants' discriminatory practices have caused injury to persons seeking to occupy residential dwellings within the City of Wildwood and also to landlords involved with those transactions. Those persons are entitled to be compensated by defendants for the injuries caused by the discriminatory conduct.
15. The defendants' conduct was intentional, willful, and taken in disregard of the rights of others.

16. Plaintiff realleges and herein incorporates by reference the allegations set forth in above paragraphs 1 through 10.
17. Ms. Nancy Carrasco resides at 234 Lincoln Avenue, Wildwood, New Jersey, along with her two children who are 12 and 4 years old. Ms. Carrasco has resided at this address for over five years. Ms. Carrasco's unit has four rooms and is approximately 454 square feet. Her landlord is Hispanic.
18. In February, 1992, city officials, including Defendant Tullie and Defendant Gannon, inspected Ms. Carrasco's unit and determined that it did not satisfy the minimum square footage standards of the Property Maintenance Code.
19. Following the inspection, Ms. Carrasco received notice from her landlord, Ines and Ricardo Daletto, that the City would not approve occupancy for Ms. Carrasco's family and she had to relocate.
20. On April 24, 1992, Ms. Carrasco filed with the Department of Housing and Urban Development ("HUD") a complaint of housing discrimination pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §3610 against the city, alleging discrimination based on familial status. The Secretary of HUD determined that the complaint involves the legality of state or local zoning or other land use laws or ordinances and has, accordingly, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §3610(g), referred the matter to the Attorney General for appropriate action.
21. The Attorney General is authorized by 42 U.S.C. §3614(b)(1)(A) to bring this action upon the referral of the Secretary of HUD.
22. Even though Ms. Carrasco's unit satisfies state and model code occupancy standards, and is of sufficient size to house her family, the defendants have applied, and continue to apply, the occupancy standards described above to Nancy Carrasco and her children, limiting unreasonably the number of persons that may occupy the dwelling.
23. By the conduct described in the preceding paragraph, the defendants have discriminated on the basis of familial status in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§3604 (a),(b) and (c).
24. Nancy Carrasco has suffered damages as a result of the defendants' conduct described herein.
25. The discriminatory actions of the defendants were intentional, willful, and taken in disregard for the rights of Nancy Carrasco.

WHEREFORE, the United States prays that the Court enter an ORDER that:

1. Declares that the defendants' Ordinance 265-90 and its enforcement scheme violate the Fair Housing Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. §§3601 et seq.;
2. Enjoins the defendants, their officials, agents, employees, successors, and all other persons in active concert or participation with them from continuing to enforce ordinance 265-90 and from continuing to discriminate on account of familial status or national origin in violation of 42 U.S.C. §§3601 et seq.;
3. Requires such actions by the defendants as may be necessary to restore all persons aggrieved by defendants' discriminatory housing practices to the position they would have occupied but for defendants' discriminatory conduct;
4. Awards such damages as would fully compensate each person aggrieved by the defendants' discriminatory housing practices, including Ms. Carrasco, for the injury caused by the defendants' discriminatory conduct, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §3614 (d)(1)(B);
5. Awards each person aggrieved by defendants' discriminatory housing practices, including Ms. Carrasco, punitive damages because of the intentional and willful nature of the defendants' conduct pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §3614(d)(1)(B); and
6. Assesses a civil penalty against each defendant in an amount of money 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

James P. Turner
Acting Assistant Attorney General

Paul F. Hancock
Chief, Housing and Civil Enforcement Section

Isabelle M. Thabault
Jane Ryan Taylor
Jennifer C. Cass
Attorneys
Housing and Civil Enforcement Section
Civil Rights Division
United States Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20035-5998
JCC 0915

Michael Chertoff
United States Attorney

Bette E. Uhrmacher
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Chief, Civil Division > >