Following a week-long bench trial in October, U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Conti ruled in Short v. Manhattan Apts., Inc., et al. (SDNY) that two New York City realty companies, Manhattan Apartments, Inc., and Abba Realty Associates, Inc., discriminated against Plaintiff Keith Short because he received a housing subsidy from New York City’s HIV/AIDS Services Administration (“HASA”). The discrimination was corroborated by a testing investigation conducted by the Fair Housing Justice Center (“FHJC”), Co-Plaintiff in the case. Judge Conti’s decision found that both Manhattan Apartments, one of the largest realty companies in New York City, and Abba Realty “weeded out the HASA clients before they could submit an application,” in violation of the New York City Human Rights Law.

The decision is the first to find discrimination against a HASA client under Local Law 10, passed by the City Council in 2008 to prohibit housing discrimination based on lawful source of income. Compensatory damages were awarded to Mr. Short and the FHJC, and a three-year injunction was ordered by the court. In addition to prohibiting the defendants from continuing to discriminate on the basis of source of income, Manhattan Apartments and Abba Realty will be required to adopt non-discrimination policies and to undergo fair housing training.

The Plaintiffs are represented by Diane L. Houk of ECBAWM, along with co-counsel Armen Merjian and Robert Bacigalupi of Housing Works.