On January 12, 2023, the HUD announced that the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) has ordered three Plano, Texas landlords to pay damages, civil penalties, and attorney’s fees totaling $140,649 for violating the Fair Housing Act. The ALJ found that agent Quang Dangtran and property owners Ha Nguyen and HQD Enterprise, LLC refused to rent to a Black woman because of race, made discriminatory statements, placed discriminatory advertisements on Craigslist, and retaliated against the woman because she filed a complaint with HUD.
On June 25, 2019, HUD filed a charge of discrimination on the woman’s behalf alleging that Dangtran, Nguyen and HQD Enterprise, LLC, violated the Fair Housing Act because of race. In late 2019, the landlords retaliated against the woman by filing a state court claim against her alleging that she had engaged in slander and abuse of process. A Texas judge dismissed the state court case and HUD amended its Charge of Discrimination to include a retaliation claim.
According to the lawsuit, Dangtran refused to allow the woman to see the advertised room, told her that his wife would be uncomfortable with her living in the home because she is Black, and told her that the room was already rented when, in fact, the room was still available for rent. It was further found that the landlords posted advertisements on Craigslist that specifically asked interested home seekers to specify their race.
As a result, the ALJ ordered Respondents to
Pay a total of $140,649.36, of which $79,782.75 in compensatory damages to the woman, $49,472 in civil penalties, and $11,394.61 in attorneys’ fees;
Attend Fair Housing Act and cultural sensitivity training;
Adopt a non-discrimination policy; and
Adopt equal housing opportunity language in future advertisements and rental documents.
The HUD’s press release can be found here.