D.C. Wins Nation's Largest Ever $10 Million Settlement in Housing Voucher Discrimination Case
Three real estate firms and several of their executives are required to pay Washington, D.C. a historic $10 million settlement and to stop managing property in the city forever for allegedly denying access to rentals or imposing additional, and illegal, requirements on low-income applicants. The settlement is the largest civil penalty in a housing discrimination case in U.S. history, according to D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D), who announced it at a news conference Thursday.
The attorney general’s office filed suit against the three real estate firms — DARO Management Services, DARO Realty and Infinity Real Estate — and several of their executives in 2020 for allegedly violating civil rights and consumer-protection laws meant to protect low-income renters who receive government assistance from housing discrimination. The D.C. attorney general’s office filed suit against them after finding that DARO illegally posted ads with discriminatory language and charged Section 8 voucher recipients extra fees. This was part of an ongoing crackdown on discrimination against voucher holders in the District.
Racine commented “This discrimination has perpetuated Jim Crow racism that pushes Black and Brown families out of certain areas of the District of Columbia.”
D.C. officials documented discriminatory practices at 15 buildings owned or operated by the companies throughout Wards 1, 2 and 3, concentrated in some of the District’s most affluent areas. Building managers that separate out applicants receiving government assistance in vouchers and other aid programs violate the city’s Human Rights Act, which bans source-of-income discrimination.
More than 30,000 Washingtonians rely on some form of government subsidy to supplement the cost of housing, according to the District. About 11,500 low-income households get aid through the federally backed Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as Section 8 vouchers, which subsidize rent at homes not typically designated as affordable housing. Some 95% of D.C. Section 8 voucher holders are Black, and 79% are headed by women.
