GRANBY — Housing providers charged by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development with discriminating against people who use assistance animals have agreed to pay $15,000 to the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center and to change their accommodation policy.
In February, the Holyoke-based MFHC, an organization that investigates housing discrimination complaints and provides free legal services, filed a complaint with HUD against Pleasant Valley Estates, Bernashe Realty, Diane Bernashe-Lecca and James Lecca, alleging that the housing providers violated the Fair Housing Act by prohibiting assistance animals from the complex. Under this act, sellers or landlords must make reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities.
Bernashe-Lecca is president and director of Bernashe Realty, which manages Pleasant Valley Estates, and co-director of Pleasant Valley Estates. Lecca is president and co-director of Pleasant Valley Estates.
According to a HUD report, the Massachusetts Fair Housing Center first became interested in the case in spring 2017, when the housing providers posted a Craigslist ad stating “One cat considered, no dogs please.” Using a method known as paired testing, MFHC had two trained housing testers apply for the same housing opening. Each applicant had the same qualifications, but only one said that she had a disability and requested accommodations for her assistance dog.
The housing providers also posted an advertisement in January prohibiting “service animals,” stating that the owner was “allergic to pet hair and dander.”
In two rounds of the paired testing, which occurred in April and January, MFHC reported that the agency cut off communication or denied occupancy to the applicants who said that they needed an assistance animal, but continued to move forward in the application process with the applicants who did not require an assistance animal.
Bernashe Realty could not be reached for comment this week.
The realty company manages a 31-unit apartment complex and a 15-unit complex in Granby.
Following MFHC’s investigation, HUD conducted a separate investigation and determined in August that there was reasonable cause that the housing providers had engaged in discriminatory housing practices.
Ashley Grant, legal director for MFHC, said that, in addition to paying $15,000 to MFHC, the housing providers must also adopt HUD’s “new, reasonable accommodation policy,” which must be distributed to all tenants in any residential property that the providers own or manage. They must also attend fair housing training.
According to Shantae Goodloe, a HUD spokeswoman, the federal agency expects an administrative law judge to approve the agreement signed by the involved parties — MFHC and the Bernashe Realty — in the near future.
Of the decision, Grant said: “I think the message that we hope it communicates is that the landlords can’t ignore the needs of individuals with disabilities. They have to make accommodations to their policies to ensure that all of their residents have equal access to their housing, regardless of their disabilities.”
“Assistance and service animals really play so many important roles for people with disabilities,” she added.
MFHC will put the $15,000 toward its services aimed at helping other victims of housing discrimination, Grant said.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.