U.S. v. Habersham Properties, Inc., CIV.A. 1:02-CV-1531-.

• Decision Date: 06 October 2003
• Docket Number: No. CIV.A. 1:02-CV-1531-.,CIV.A. 1:02-CV-1531-.
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, and Lynda Lee Osborne, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. HABERSHAM PROPERTIES, INC., Habersham Properties d/b/a Crescent Court Apartments, Peachtree Battle Investors, LLC, and Suzanne Monner, Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Georgia

Page 1366

319 F.Supp.2d 1366

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, and Lynda Lee Osborne, Plaintiff-Intervenor, v. HABERSHAM PROPERTIES, INC., Habersham Properties d/b/a Crescent Court Apartments, Peachtree Battle Investors, LLC, and Suzanne Monner, Defendants.

No. CIV.A. 1:02-CV-1531-.

United States District Court, N.D. Georgia, Atlanta Division.

October 6, 2003.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

William S. Duffey, Jr., Amy L. Berne, Laura S. Kennedy, Office of United States Attorney, Atlanta, GA, Joan A. Magagna, phv-DOJ, Isabelle M. Thabault, phv-DOJ, Charla D. Jackson, phv-DOJ, U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Washington, DC, for USA, plaintiff.

Kevin Quirk, Quirk & Quirk, Leticia D. Alfonso, Jason Charles Grech, Cushing, GA, Morris Armbruster & Jones, James Matthew Anthony, Office of J. Matthew Anthony, Atlanta, GA, for Habersham Properties, Inc., Habersham Properties dba Crescent Court Apartments, Peachtree Battle Investors, L.L.C., Suzanne Monner, defendants.

ORDER

MARTIN, District Judge.

This action is before the court on the defendants' Motions for Summary Judgment [Doc. Nos. 50-1, 53-1 and 57-1] and defendants' Motions for Oral Argument [Doc. Nos. 51-1 and 54-1].

I. Procedural Background

On June 13, 2002, the United States (hereinafter "the U.S." or "the government") initiated this action against Habersham Properties, Inc. ("Habersham"), Peachtree Battle Investors, LLC ("PB Investors"), and Suzanne Monner ("Monner") for violation of the Fair Housing Act (hereinafter "the FHA" or "the Act"). 42 U.S.C. § 3601, et seq. On August 9, 2002, Lynda Lee Osborne ("Osborne") intervened in this action pursuant to section 3614(e) of the Act¹ and Fed.R.Civ.P. 24.² On March 20, 2003, defendant Habersham and defendant PB Investors filed motions for summary judgment with this court. Defendant Monner filed a motion in support of Habersham's motion for summary judgment on April 11, 2003.

II. Factual Background

The facts set forth here give all deference to the plaintiffs' version of the facts, as is required in a summary judgment setting. Accordingly, the court does not consider this account of the facts to be "factual findings" by the court and the court will not be bound by this account in future proceedings in this or any other action.

PB Investors is the corporate owner of the Crescent Court Apartments ("Crescent Court"). PB Investors is headquartered in DeKalb County and it has owned Crescent Court since 1994. Crescent Court is the only asset of PB Investors. Habersham is a property management company that was hired by PB Investors to manage Crescent Court. Habersham manages approximately 26 other residential complexes in the Northern District of Georgia. Monner is the on-site community manager at Crescent Court and has been since 1992, before PB Investors bought the complex. She is an employee of Habersham. When Habersham took over management of the complex, it was decided that Monner would be maintained in her position.

The U.S. alleges that the defendants have violated the FHA by having a "pattern or practice of discrimination" in their leasing practices. The "pattern or practice of discrimination" allegation that the government asserts against the defendants is founded on three separate factual bases. All three of the bases involve the behavior of Monner when conducting the leasing matters of Crescent Court.

A. Lynda Osborne

The first assertion relates to the interaction plaintiff-intervenor Osborne had with Monner when attempting to lease an apartment at Crescent Court. On January 25, 2001, Osborne, who is African-American, went to Crescent Court to inquire about the availability of an apartment. Monner told her there were no apartments currently available. During her visit, Osborne received information regarding the apartments, such as the floor plans, the rent range and a blank application. Before Osborne left, she filled out a guest card and Monner told her to check back after February 1, noting that tenants usually gave notice of their intention to vacate on the first of the month.

On Monday, January 29, 2001, Osborne called Crescent Court using a British accent and inquired about apartment availability. Monner told her there was an apartment available. The following morning, Osborne went to Crescent Court in person to inquire about availability. Monner again told her there was nothing available and suggested she come back on February 1. Later that afternoon, Osborne called Crescent Court again using a British accent and an alias of "Katherine Windsor." During this phone call, she confirmed that an apartment was available. Osborne also had a Caucasian acquaintance, Kevin Shepard, visit Crescent Court and inquire about apartment availability. Monner told Mr. Shepard that there were no available apartments. Monner also told Mr. Shepard she would help him any way she could. Shortly after this event, Osborne filed a complaint with the Department of Justice.

B. Fair Housing Tests

The second factual allegation arises from a series of government tests run for the purpose of determining whether Crescent Court was violating the FHA in its leasing practices. These tests are run by sending similarly situated "testers" into the subject establishment to monitor the results. The "testers" represent themselves to be as similar to one another as possible, except as to race, or whatever other characteristic is suspected to be the discriminatory trigger. These tests were begun in response to Osborne's complaint.

1. The May Test Group

For a little over a week, between May 18 and May 24, 2002, the first government test was conducted at Crescent Court. During the course of this week, the government sent five "testers" to Crescent Court. A Caucasian female tester telephoned Crescent Court on May 18 and was told by Monner that there was an apartment available. Monner said it would be available for viewing on Monday, the 21st. On May 21, an African-American male tester was told that there were no apartments available at Crescent Court and was referred to the Westchester Apartments ("the Westchester").³ The following day, a Caucasian male tester visited Crescent Court and was allowed to see a vacant apartment. On Thursday, May 24, a Caucasian female tester and an African-American female tester were both told that there were no available apartments. They were both referred to the Westchester. During this time period, there was an apartment available. Apartment # 1021-B had been vacant since April 30, 2001 and was leased out again on May 31, 2001.

2. The June Test Group

During the week of June 18, the second group of government testers began inquiring at Crescent Court. This group consisted of three testers: a Caucasian female, a Caucasian male, and an African-American male. The inquiries were all made at different times of the day. The Caucasian female called Crescent Court at 3:15 p.m. on June 18. Two days later, the African-American male tester visited Crescent Court at 9:30 a.m. Later that same day, shortly after 11:00 a.m., the Caucasian male tester visited Crescent Court. All three testers were initially told that there would be no apartments available until August 15. However, throughout the conversations with the male and female Caucasian testers, Monner eventually changed her statement and said an apartment would be available on August 1.

3. The August Test Group

The third test group approached Crescent Court on the 20th and 21st of August, 2001. This test involved a phone call from a Caucasian male on August 20, during which he was told there was an available apartment. The following day, an African-American male tester visited Crescent Court and was told nothing would be available until September 15. A Caucasian male visited later the same day and was allowed to see a vacant apartment.⁴

C. The Aggrieved Parties

The third and final factual basis for the government's claim against the defendants involves encounters of various "aggrieved parties," as defined by 42 U.S. § 3602(I).⁵ The government names several African-American persons it claims have suffered racial discrimination at Crescent Court. The alleged aggrieved parties are Sybrina Atwaters, Rabiah Parker, Lakeisha Williams, Hermeyone Hunter, Joyce Smith, and Sharon and Colin Blackman. Monner put the letters "B" or "A" on the guest cards of Ms. Atwaters, Ms. Parker and the Blackmans. From Monner's deposition, it was learned that she intended these letters to indicate the race of the applicants. Monner told all of the aggrieved parties that there were no apartments available when they visited Crescent Court. In the case of Ms. Parker and Ms. Atwaters, Monner leased apartments on the days of their visits or shortly thereafter to Caucasian females. Ms. Williams visited Crescent Court on September 18, 2000 and was told there were no apartments available. Monner spoke to vendors about having the floors of a vacant apartment refinished on September 26, 2000. This particular vacant apartment was leased out again on October 20, 2000 to a Caucasian female. Ms. Hunter visited Crescent Court on behalf of her mother, Joyce Smith, in March of 1997. She was told that there were no available apartments at Crescent Court. Monner then showed Ms. Hunter apartments at the Westchester, which is where Ms. Hunter's mother eventually leased an apartment. The Blackmans visited Crescent Court on July 26, 2000 and were told that no apartments were available. There is no dispute that there were no apartments available at the time of the Blackmans' visit.⁶

D. The Charges

Based on its fair housing testing, Osborne's claims, and the facts surrounding the other aggrieved parties' encounters with Monner, the government initiated this case against the defendants. The government contends that these actions constitute violations of the FHA. In particular, the government alleges that the defendants have engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination...