A Black tenant in New Haven has filed a complaint against a mega landlord for denying him an apartment based on two 34-year-old assault convictions.
Mark Griffin, lawyers from the New Haven Legal Assistance Association and the ACLU-CT, think it’s because of his race.
Griffin, who has lived in New Haven for 27 years, is looking for a new apartment with his fiancé, Cheryl Rabe. Rabe has a Section 8 voucher that Griffin was approved to join.
They applied for a place owned by Mandy Management, a large property owner in the city. The company cited two misdemeanors from 1989 as reasons not to rent to him, and now, other companies are denying them, too.
Griffin, Rabe and advocates from the NHLAA and ACLU-CT spoke outside of Mandy Management on Thursday morning.
“These are the only criminal charges listed and only convictions on my record,” Griffin said. “After being rejected by Mandy Management, we attempted to fill out a separate rental application with P2P Realty. And we're told that P2P will not work with anyone who has been rejected by Mandy Management.”
The New Haven Legal Assistance Association said the rejection was race-based because the policy disparately affects people of color. They’ve filed a complaint with the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
“That kind of policy of refusing to rent to somebody because of a criminal conviction without regard to how long ago it was, what it was for, what may have happened in the intervening 34 years, any other mitigating circumstances, any information about what kind of person and tenant Mr. Griffin would be, that constitutes race discrimination,” Attorney Amy Eppler Epstein said.
They’re also calling on lawmakers to prevent housing discrimination — currently, there are no limitations on what criminal convictions landlords can consider when deciding who to rent to.
Anderson Curtis, senior policy advisor with the ACLU-CT, said Griffin’s story is not unique.
“79% of formerly incarcerated people have been denied housing due to a criminal conviction,” Griffin said. “And guess what, that's also the recidivism rate in our state. I wonder why.”
In a comment to WSHU, Mandy Management said they did not comment on pending litigation, but that they do not discriminate based on race.
"Mandy Management does not discriminate against tenants or potential tenants based on race, color, family status, disability, sex, national origin, religion, marital status, ancestry, source of income, sexual orientation, or age or any other basis prohibited by law. To maximize transparency and fairness in rental decisions, we apply the same screening criteria and procedures to every applicant so we can make informed decisions to protect our rental community and to promote fairness and inclusiveness," the statement said.
