Housing Rights Center v. Donald Sterling Corp.
2003 WL 21782269, 274 F. Supp. 2d 1129, 2003 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13302 (2003)
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Rule of Law:
Under the Fair Housing Act, using a specific national origin, such as 'Korean,' in the name of a residential apartment building constitutes a discriminatory statement because it indicates a preference to an ordinary reader, even without an explicit statement of preference or proof of discriminatory intent.
Facts:
- Defendant Donald T. Sterling, through his companies, owned and operated approximately 99 apartment buildings in Southern California.
- Shortly after purchasing a building at 691 S. Irolo St., Sterling allegedly told staff, including property manager Dixie Martin, that he did not like Hispanic or African-American tenants and wanted to rent only to Korean-Americans.
- Defendants changed the names of several apartment buildings to include national origin descriptors, such as renaming the 'Mark Wilshire Towers' to 'Korean World Towers' and another building to 'Hancock Park Asian Towers.'
- Defendants published an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times for the 'American Korean Land Company' that featured a South Korean flag touching an American flag.
- Defendants required tenants at the 691 S. Irolo St. building to complete an application to receive a garage remote control which demanded information about the tenant's place of birth and citizenship.
- Tenants alleged that Rochelle Sterling, Donald Sterling's wife, posed as a government health inspector to gain access to apartments and harass tenants.
- African-American and Latino tenants claimed Defendants refused to perform necessary repairs, refused to accept their rent payments, and subjected them to other forms of discriminatory treatment.
Procedural Posture:
- The Housing Rights Center and several individual tenants (Plaintiffs) filed a lawsuit against Donald T. Sterling and his affiliated companies (Defendants) in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
- The complaint alleged numerous discriminatory housing practices in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and various California state laws.
- Plaintiffs filed a motion for a preliminary injunction, asking the court to immediately prohibit Defendants from engaging in four specific practices while the case proceeds.
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Issue:
Does using a national origin descriptor like 'Korean' in an apartment building's name violate the Fair Housing Act's prohibition on publishing any statement or advertisement that indicates a preference, limitation, or discrimination based on national origin?
Opinions:
Majority - Matz, District Judge
Yes, using the word 'Korean' in an apartment building's name violates the Fair Housing Act. The Act prohibits any statement that indicates a preference based on national origin, and the test is how an 'ordinary reader' would perceive the statement, not the owner's subjective intent. An ordinary reader would logically conclude that naming a building 'Wilshire Korean Towers' signifies a preference for tenants of Korean national origin, especially in a diverse city like Los Angeles where such a name acts as a coded message. This is distinct from using a geographic term like 'Koreatown,' as 'Korean' refers to a group of people, not a location, thereby discouraging non-Korean individuals from applying for housing.
Analysis:
This decision clarifies that the Fair Housing Act's prohibition on discriminatory advertising extends to the names of apartment buildings. The court's application of the 'ordinary reader' test to a building's name establishes that facially neutral words can constitute illegal statements of preference based on their context and likely interpretation by the public. This sets a precedent for challenging subtle or 'coded' forms of housing discrimination in marketing and branding, shifting the focus from the landlord's intent to the discriminatory effect of their language on potential tenants in a diverse community.
