West Seneca Apartments Named In Discrimination Suit

For Immediate Release: October 18, 2005

Investigation Reveals Violations of Fair Housing Laws

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced a lawsuit alleging discriminatory practices by the owners of a Western New York apartment complex.

The lawsuit against the owners of the Royal York Gardens Apartments in West Seneca alleges violations of state and federal housing laws. The lawsuit seeks a court order prohibiting future discriminatory conduct

The tests revealed that the Royal York rental agent consistently treated the minority testers differently. The discriminatory practices included refusing to show blacks apartments that were shown to whites; denying the availability of apartments to blacks while telling whites that such apartments were available; failing to provide blacks with full and complete information about the availability of apartments; and encouraging whites to rent apartments while not providing the same encouragement to blacks.

Prior to filing the lawsuit, the Attorney General’s office contacted Royal York in an effort to resolve this matter without litigation, but these efforts were unsuccessful.

As part of an ongoing effort to fair housing laws, the Attorney General’s office recently obtained consent decrees involving two Westchester real estate brokerage agencies alleged to have discriminated on the basis of race and ethnicity against individuals seeking to rent apartments in primarily white Westchester neighborhoods. The consent decrees require the agencies and their employees to undergo training and maintain records which will be used to test their compliance with federal, state, and local fair housing laws in the provision of brokerage services

Department of Law:
The State Capitol
Albany, NY