Photo: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Website
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — A non-profit housing rights company has filed a lawsuit against 20 Boston-area landlords and real estate brokers.
Housing Rights Initiative (HRI) is simultaneously suing 20 landlords and real estate brokers in the Boston-area. The lawsuit alleges that the defendant landlords and brokers refused to rent apartments to low-income tenants with government subsidized housing vouchers.
The vouchers they are referring stem from the Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers Program (HCVP). Those who qualify typically pay 30 percent of their income towards rent and the state also pays part of the rent directly to the landlord.
Lawyers for Civil Rights and Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC filed the lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court on Wednesday.
“As the largest fair housing lawsuit by defendant size in Massachusetts history, this lawsuit sends a clear message to every landlord and broker in the state: if you are a real estate company that discriminates against families and children with housing vouchers, the question of whether you will be caught is not a matter of if, but when,” said Founder and Executive Director of HRI Aaron Carr.
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