On October 23, 2006, tenants of the Villa Serrano Apartments, filed a lawsuit under the Fair Housing Act of 1968 against owners and operators of the Villa Serrano Apartments in the United States District Court of California, Eastern District. The tenants, represented by private counsel, asked the court for monetary, declaratory, and injunctive relief, claiming that the defendants discriminated against families with children in violation of the Fair Housing Act.

On May 25, 2005, the defendants gave all tenants a notice which declared that children under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or adult when playing on the defendant's property, and that repeat violations of this rule could result in termination of the offending tenant's lease. In July of 2005, the defendants gave notice to the tenants that children were no longer permitted to play in the parking lot area. Tenants with children also claimed that there children were harassed by management and threatened with eviction for imagined violations and undefined misbehavior.

The tenants claimed that the apartment owners' and operators' actions resulted in a loss of housing opportunities, violations of the tenants' civil rights, deprivation of the full use and enjoyment of the tenants' tenancy, and severe emotional distress, humiliation, and bodily injury.

On March 31, 2009, the parties reached a settlement through mediation, under which the defendants agreed to pay the tenants $240,000.

After several trips to the Ninth Circuit on the issue of attorney fees, the parties entered a settlement as to the minors' compromise and the case was closed. We have no information as to the details of the settlement.

Gregory Pitt - 07/30/2012


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