The Delaware Department of Justice’s Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust has won $50,000 in settlements for Delawareans denied fair housing since December, the department announced Thursday.
Neither of the two settlements required any admission of wrongdoing.
“Housing and reasonable accommodation are basic human rights, and that should be especially true in a place that prides itself on being a state of neighbors,” said Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings.
The case against Chateau Orleans Apartments
In the first case, a tenant with a physical disability alleged that the Chateau Orleans Apartments in Penny Hill did not provide them with reasonable accommodations, according to the Department of Justice.
The tenant used a walker and a wheelchair, the department said, and relied on the elevator to reach their apartment on the second floor. When the elevator broke, the apartment complex did not fix it for over four months, which the Department of Justice said forced the tenant to move out.
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Per the settlement, which was reached in December following a complaint in June, Chateau Orleans Apartments and their management company had to pay the former tenant $30,000, revise its fair housing policies and complete fair housing training, according to the Department of Justice.
The case against The Vinings at Christiana
The second settlement secured by the justice department awarded $20,000 to a woman who claimed she and her three children were left homeless after The Vinings at Christiana in Bear denied her application because her income was too low.
The Department of Justice said an investigation found that the woman had a State Rental Assistance Program voucher, meaning that the denial of her application by the apartment complex violated the Delaware Fair Housing Act.
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In addition to the money given to the woman, the apartment complex and management company agreed in the Jan. 23 settlement to complete fair housing training and update its public advertising material and fair housing policies, according to the Department of Justice.
Send story tips or ideas to Hannah Edelman at hedelman@delawareonline.com. For more reporting, follow them on Twitter at @h_edelman.
