A Long Island fair housing agency said it has settled a housing discrimination complaint with a Nassau County real estate agent who allegedly discriminated against potential rentersseeking to use government housing vouchers to pay rent.
Karen Elefante, a real estate agent at Compass in Rockville Centre, and the brokerage agreed to pay Long Island Housing Services $27,500 and make certain policy changes as part of a settlement.
LIHS alleged that Elefante told multiple fair housing testers during a 2021 investigation that tenants seeking housing from a landlord she represented needed a minimum 700 credit score and an income of at least $100,000.
The testers told Elefante they had sufficient income to pay rent through the Section 8 vouchers and the federally funded Making Moves program, but the nonprofit said she told them thecredit and income standards would still apply.
LIHS alleged Elefante's comments to the testers violatedstate and local housing discrimination laws. Those laws barhousing providers from discriminating against renters seeking to use lawful sources of income, such as Section 8 housing vouchers, social security income or disability payments.
The federal Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as Section 8, is only effective at connecting low-income people to housing if landlords accept the vouchers as payment, said Ian Wilder, executive director at Long Island Housing Services.
"We have decided the way, as a society, to provide housing for families who are lower income is by giving them vouchers and sending them out into the market," Wilder said. "That’s assuming the market will work and will only judge people by their ability to pay rent."
The Making Moves program provides additional funding to low-income renters with children, who are interested in renting to areas where they may have better access to jobs or high-performing schools.
Wilder said income standards are unnecessary if a voucher is sufficient to cover the rent because voucher holders, unlike other tenants, have already been vetted by the government to determine how much they can afford to pay.
Elefante did not respond to a request for comment.
Compass spokesperson Devin Daly Huerta said he could not comment on the specifics of LIHS’ allegations. He said the company takes allegations of discrimination seriously and educates its agents about fair housing laws.
"We are committed to providing equal and respectful service to every client, regardless of income source," he said in an emailed statement.
The settlement offers the latest evidence of the challenges Long Island renters face when they try to use housing vouchers to find housing. Last year, LIHS reached several settlements involving source of income discrimination, including an $105,000 settlement with a Suffolk County landlord who owned five buildings and a $15,000 agreement with a Baldwin apartment complex.
National studies have documented the prevalence of landlords’ refusal to accept housing vouchers. A 2018 study of voucher discrimination in five U.S. cities — Fort Worth, Texas; Los Angeles, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. — found that denial rates ranged from 15% in Washington D.C. to 78% in Fort Worth when a fair housing tester called landlords posing as a voucher holder.
Private fair housing organizations reported receiving more than 2,000 complaints of discrimination based on the source of person’s income in 2023, according to a report from the National Fair Housing Alliance.
"The ability of people to find housing with the vouchers is a really serious issue in New York," said Patrick Boyle, a senior director for the New York market at Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing.
Enterprise administered the state program that funded LIHS’ investigation.
Boyle said some landlords raise income and credit standards that effectively screen out housing voucher recipients as opposed to outright refusing to accept vouchers.
"If the income requirements are high enough, it’s going to necessarily exclude people with vouchers because obviously people with vouchers can’t be above a certain income threshold to qualify," he said.
A Long Island fair housing agency said it has settled a housing discrimination complaint with a Nassau County real estate agent who allegedly discriminated against potential rentersseeking to use government housing vouchers to pay rent.
Karen Elefante, a real estate agent at Compass in Rockville Centre, and the brokerage agreed to pay Long Island Housing Services $27,500 and make certain policy changes as part of a settlement.
LIHS alleged that Elefante told multiple fair housing testers during a 2021 investigation that tenants seeking housing from a landlord she represented needed a minimum 700 credit score and an income of at least $100,000.
The testers told Elefante they had sufficient income to pay rent through the Section 8 vouchers and the federally funded Making Moves program, but the nonprofit said she told them thecredit and income standards would still apply.
WHAT NEWSDAY FOUND
- Compass and a real estate agent in its Rockville Centre office agreed to a $27,500 settlement with a Long Island fair housing agency overclaims the agent discriminated against potential renters seeking to use government housing vouchers to pay rent.
- The agent told fair housing testers posing as renters they would need to meet income and credit score standards even if their housing vouchers were sufficient to pay for rent.
- Long Island Housing Services alleged those comments violated state and local fair housing laws, which prohibit discrimination against people using lawful sources of income to pay for housing.
LIHS alleged Elefante's comments to the testers violatedstate and local housing discrimination laws. Those laws barhousing providers from discriminating against renters seeking to use lawful sources of income, such as Section 8 housing vouchers, social security income or disability payments.
Sign up for the Daily Business newsletter
Stay in the know on jobs, retail and all things business across Long Island.
By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.
The federal Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as Section 8, is only effective at connecting low-income people to housing if landlords accept the vouchers as payment, said Ian Wilder, executive director at Long Island Housing Services.
"We have decided the way, as a society, to provide housing for families who are lower income is by giving them vouchers and sending them out into the market," Wilder said. "That’s assuming the market will work and will only judge people by their ability to pay rent."
The Making Moves program provides additional funding to low-income renters with children, who are interested in renting to areas where they may have better access to jobs or high-performing schools.
Wilder said income standards are unnecessary if a voucher is sufficient to cover the rent because voucher holders, unlike other tenants, have already been vetted by the government to determine how much they can afford to pay.
Elefante did not respond to a request for comment.
Compass spokesperson Devin Daly Huerta said he could not comment on the specifics of LIHS’ allegations. He said the company takes allegations of discrimination seriously and educates its agents about fair housing laws.
"We are committed to providing equal and respectful service to every client, regardless of income source," he said in an emailed statement.
Renters facing challenges
The settlement offers the latest evidence of the challenges Long Island renters face when they try to use housing vouchers to find housing. Last year, LIHS reached several settlements involving source of income discrimination, including an $105,000 settlement with a Suffolk County landlord who owned five buildings and a $15,000 agreement with a Baldwin apartment complex.
National studies have documented the prevalence of landlords’ refusal to accept housing vouchers. A 2018 study of voucher discrimination in five U.S. cities — Fort Worth, Texas; Los Angeles, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. — found that denial rates ranged from 15% in Washington D.C. to 78% in Fort Worth when a fair housing tester called landlords posing as a voucher holder.
Private fair housing organizations reported receiving more than 2,000 complaints of discrimination based on the source of person’s income in 2023, according to a report from the National Fair Housing Alliance.
"The ability of people to find housing with the vouchers is a really serious issue in New York," said Patrick Boyle, a senior director for the New York market at Enterprise Community Partners, a national nonprofit dedicated to affordable housing.
Enterprise administered the state program that funded LIHS’ investigation.
Boyle said some landlords raise income and credit standards that effectively screen out housing voucher recipients as opposed to outright refusing to accept vouchers.
"If the income requirements are high enough, it’s going to necessarily exclude people with vouchers because obviously people with vouchers can’t be above a certain income threshold to qualify," he said.
By Jonathan LaMantia
jonathan.lamantia@newsday.com
@jonlamantiaJonathan LaMantia covers residential real estate and other business news on Long Island. He previously covered the business of health care for Crain's New York Business.
