U.S. lawsuit charges local firm with discrimination
BY LARRY HLAVENKA JR.
Staff Writer

LAKEWOOD - In July, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) leveled charges of discrimination against Triple H. Realty, LLC, and two of its employees, Harry Kantor and Vincent Ortiz.

According to HUD, the company violated the U.S. Fair Housing Act by attempting to segregate tenants at the Cottage Manor apartment complex based on their religion, race, color and national origin. Cottage Manor is a 104-unit, six-building complex on Woehr Avenue.

Now the U.S. Justice Department has entered the fray as well.

According to a news release from the government, on Sept. 29 a federal lawsuit was filed against Triple H. Realty which seeks monetary damages to compensate victims, civil penalties and a court order barring future discrimination.

The complaint was filed in federal district court in Newark.

"It is inexcusable and illegal to deny equal access to housing based on one's race or ethnicity," said Wan J. Kim, assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. "The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously protect the equal housing rights of all Americans."

According to the allegations, representatives of Triple H. Realty forced non-Jewish Hispanic and African-American tenants to transfer to buildings in the rear of the property in order to allow Jewish families to move into the better-kept apartments at the front of the complex.

According to information provided by the government, HUD found that the managing agent for Triple H. Realty offered Jewish tenants incentives to relocate to Cottage Manor and instructed the on-site superintendent to ask African-American and Hispanic families living in two buildings to transfer to another building so that Jewish tenants would not have to live among African-American and Hispanic families.

HUD's investigation found that non-Jewish African-American and Hispanic tenants received little to no apartment maintenance as compared to the maintenance provided to Jewish tenants. For example, Cottage Manor management refused to properly exterminate a non-Jewish family's apartment and failed to perform adequate maintenance repairs in the family's bedroom and bathroom.

According to the government, HUD's on-site investigation confirmed that the maintenance of a building occupied by non-Jewish tenants was substantially different. The building housing many of the Jewish families has a well-manicured lawn in the front courtyard that is enclosed by a white picket fence. Conversely, the buildings with a majority of African-American and Hispanic tenants are not well maintained, have little or no lawn in the courtyards and the courtyards are not enclosed.

Cottage Manor management also instituted different lawn policies for tenants who were not Jewish, according to the charges. African-American and Hispanic tenants were told they could not leave any toys or personal items on the lawns, but Jewish tenants were allowed to leave personal items on the lawns.