FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CR

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1997 (202) 616-2765

TDD (202) 514-1888

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OBTAINS $200,000

SETTLEMENT IN HOUSING DISCRIMINATION
LAWSUIT

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The former owners and managers of

three suburban Detroit apartment complexes agreed today to pay
$200,000 to settle a housing discrimination lawsuit brought by the
Department of Justice.

The lawsuit, filed in October, 1995, and later joined by three

families, alleged that the former owners and operators of three
suburban Detroit apartment complexes violated the federal Fair
Housing Act by systematically refusing to rent apartments to
African Americans and restricting families with children to
certain apartments. Under today's agreement the defendants will
pay money to victims and take steps to prevent further
discrimination.

"To deny a person an apartment based on the color of his or her

skin or because he or she has a family is intolerable," said Acting
Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Isabelle Katz Pinzler.

The Michigan apartment complexes involved are: Marsten

Apartments, a 48-unit apartment complex in Allen Park;
Wellington Manor Apartments, a 64-unit apartment complex in
Woodhaven; and Park Heights Apartments, a 72-unit apartment
complex in Livonia.

The defendants, who no longer own the complexes involved in

the suit, will:

pay $190,000 in damages to victims of discrimination and

$10,000 in civil penalties to the government;

advertise to locate additional victims of discrimination;

institute a training program on fair housing; and,

set up new procedures and rules which prevent discriminatory

practices at all complexes they presently own.

The discrimination was discovered after trained pairs of black

and white "testers" posing as prospective tenants inquired about
rental units at Marsten Apartments. The investigation revealed
that the manager told the black testers that no apartments were
available, but shortly thereafter told white testers that apartments
were available and offered to show them.

After the suit was filed, the Department identified an African

American family that had been wrongfully denied housing
because of their race, and discovered that similar discriminatory
practices had taken place at Park Heights Apartments and
Wellington Manor Apartments.

The lawsuit additionally alleged that the defendants had illegally

restricted families with children to certain units at Marsten
apartments. The Department identified two families with children
who had suffered this type of discrimination.

At the time that the discriminatory practices were taking place,

the three apartment complexes were owned and managed by
Santokh and Lorraine Labana, and by their corporations, Marsten
Apartments, Inc. and Labana Management Company, Inc. These
defendants do not presently own or manage any of the complexes
in question, but do own two other apartment complexes in the
Detroit area. Jerry and Lillian Padgett, the former managers of
Marsten Apartments, were also named in the suit.

"This lawsuit should send a firm message to housing providers

both in the Detroit area and throughout the United States that we
will not tolerate discrimination and that we will prosecute and
punish those persons who refuse to provide fair and equal
treatment," said Saul A. Green, the U.S. Attorney in Detroit,
whose office prosecuted the case together with the Justice
Department's Civil Rights Division.

Of the settlement, $50,000 is set aside to pay damages to persons

who are identified through the advertising.

Individuals who believe that they have been victims of housing

discrimination at Marsten Apartments, Wellington Manor
Apartments, or Park Heights Apartments, should call the United
States Attorney's Office at 313-226-9792. Individuals who
believe that they may have been victims of housing
discrimination in the Detroit area may also call the Fair Housing
Center of Metropolitan Detroit, at 313-963-1274, the United
States Department of Justice, at 202-514-4713, or the Department
of Housing and Urban Development's Fair Housing Hotline at 1-
800-669-9777.
Today's settlement resolves the eighth case brought in the Detroit
Metropolitan area since the Justice Department began a
nationwide fair housing testing program. The eight Detroit cases
alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act to date have resulted
in settlements totaling more than $1.9 million. Nationwide, the
Justice Department has filed thirty-nine cases in fourteen cities
under its fair housing testing program.

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