- Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit

FAIR HOUSING NEWS
Newsletter of the Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Suite 1020
220 Bagley
Detroit, Michigan 48226
(313) 963-1274 \ I Fax (313) 963-4817
[email protected]
December, 2007
Volume 29, No.3
PUBLIC/PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP FOR
FAIR HOUSING WORKS AGAIN
TO PRODUCE A $725,000 SETTLEMENT
In 1991 the United States Department of Justice entered into its
first fair housing enforcement testing agreement, contracting with FHCDetroit to conduct a series of fair housing tests in the metropolitan
Detroit area. That contract was quickly followed with a second
testing contract in 1993. The result: eight racial discrimination
lawsuits brought in Federal Court, based in large part on the testing
evidence provided by FHC-Detroit testers, against eight metro Detroit
area multi-family housing providers, with combined settlements of
$1.9 million, and identifiable positive changes in the fair housing
behavior of multi-family housing providers in S.E. Michigan. The
public/private partnership at work.
In 2005 FHC-Detroit, conducting a series of wheelchair accessibility tests under a contract with the
Department of Housing and
Urban Development (HUD), identified a multi-family housing complex
in Sterling Heights, Michigan (The Preserves) that clearly did not
comply with the accessibility requirements of the Fair Housing Act
(FHA). FHC-Detroit referred the evidence to HUD and the U.S.
Department of Justice, prompting a federal investigation and
subsequent lawsuit that was resolved with an agreement by the
builders of the complex to construct new units in compliance with the
FHA and retrofit previously built units at a cost of over $900,000 to
the builders. The public/private partnership at work.
u.s.
One multi-family housing provider, General Properties Company,
the owners and operators of Whispering Woods Apartments (now
called Apple Ridge Apartments) in Livonia, Michigan, apparently did
not get the message that fair housing laws are being enforced and
continued to operate as if fair housing laws did not apply to
Whispering Woods. FHC-Detroit was alerted to the potentially
unlawful practices in 2004 by Bob Beale, President of Premier
Management
Company after his company terminated
their
management agreement with General Properties because one of the
partners of General Properties, Elliott Schubiner, had instructed
Premier employees not to waste their time with "applicants from
Detroit".
FHC-Detroit then began a seriesof eight racial discrimination tests
of the property, with seven of the eight testsdisclosing significantly more
favorable treatment of the white testers.A decision was made by the FHCDetroit Board of Directors in July, 2004, to file a housing discrimination lawsuit against the owners of Whispering Woods. That Board
decision led FHC-Detroit to contact former U.S. Attorney for the
Eastern District of Michigan, Saul A. Green, now Senior Counsel with
Miller Canfield Paddockand Stone, P.L.c., who agreed to represent FHCDetroit in the matter. In April, 2005 FHC filed a lawsuit in FederalDistrict
Court before Hon. Gerald E. Rosen. With the able assistance of other
attorneys and staff from the Miller Canfield firm, including attorneys P.
Rivka Schochet, Michelle Crockett, and Freeman Farrow,Mr. Green took
the testing evidence and found additional evidence helpful to the case,
including guest cards and applications of persons who had unsuccessfully attempted to rent units at Whispering Woods. Several of
~those
persons who were contacted by FHC-Detroit Coordinator of Legal
Services,Michael Olshan, to determine if they may have been unlawfully
denied housing because of race, were subsequently included in the final
settlement.
As FHC-Detroit's investigation proceeded, the U.S. Department
of Justice became interested in the case and, through the persistent
efforts of Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Levy, agreed to become a
(continued on page 3)
Miller Canfield Attorneys P. Rivka Schochet, Saul A. Green and Michelle
Crockett (l-r), Not pictured but an active contributor to the Miller Canfield
team: Attorney Freeman Farrow.
FHC HOLDS THIRTY-FIRST
ANNUAL MEETING
As a private, non-profit Michigan corporation FHC-Detroit is
required, by state law, to hold an annual meeting of its membership.
This year that meeting was held on November 14, 2007 in the
conference room of the Michigan Building in downtown Detroit.
Major items at the meeting were:
•
The presentation of Certificates of Appreciation
to the
Honorary
Co-Chairpersons
of
FHC's
2007
Membership/Contribution
Drive: Mr. Donald Davis,
Chairman, First Independence
Bank and Mr. Mark T.
Hammond, President and CEO of Flagstar Bank.
•
Adoption of a set of goals and a budget for the 2007/2008
program year.
•
Re-election of four persons to three-year terms on the FHCDetroit Board of Directors: Attorney Margaret L.M. Brown;
James A. Bush; Benjamin Davis, III; Louistine Larry, J.D.
•
Election of current Board appointed one-year Board member,
Dr. E'toile Libbett, to a three-year term on the Board.
•
Election of current Board appointed one-year Board member,
Attorney Marcus A. Williams, to a vacant one-year General
Membership elected Board position.
At a meeting of the FHC-Detroit Board of Directors immediately
following the Annual meeting the Board re-elected Kae Bradley and
Bradley Hoth to one year Board appointed positions and elected Dr.
David Snider to a one year Board appointed position. Two one-year
Board appointed positions remain vacant. The FHC-Detroit Board of
Directors welcomes an\( suggestions for either of those positions.
Contact: Noel J. Saleh, Board Chairperson at the FHC-Detroit office
(313) 963-1274.
Fair Housing News
Page 2
2007 FAIR HOUSING LEADERSHIP
AWARDS RECEPTION RECOGNIZES
SIGNIFICANT FAIR HOUSING ACTIONS
Since 1998 FHC-Detroit, through its annual Fair Housing
Leadership Awards Receptions, has sought to recognize and publicly
honor and thank individuals and firms in the housing industry who
have made significant, and often very courageous, contributions to
the struggle for fair housing in the metropolitan Detroit area. Over
30 awards have been presented by FHC-Detroit in the past ten
years, including presentations to the four recipients of awards at the
Reception held on September 19, 2007: The Michigan Association
of Realtors; Furhad Waquad, President of the Michigan Association
of Realtors and a Realtor with the Real Estate One Company; Bill
Martin, CEO of the Michigan Association of Realtors; and Bob
Beale, President of Premier Management Company.
The first three awards - to the Michigan Association of Realtors,
its President, Mr. Waquad and its CEO, Mr. Martin - recognized the
national leadership displayed by the Michigan Association (MAR) in
becoming the first State Realtor Association to develop and implement
a fair housing self-testing program. Working closely with four private,
non-profit Michigan Fair Housing Centers (FHC-Detroit, FHCSoutheast Michigan, FHC-Southwest Michigan and FHC Western
Michigan) MAR and the groups were able to develop a self-testing
program that assures that the testing results will only be used for the
self-education purposes of MAR while also assuring that the private
fair housing groups will be able to independently investigate any
housing discrimination complaints it receives concerning MAR or any
of its member groups. Selling that concept to the MAR Board and
members of MAR fell to Mr. Waquad and Mr. Martin - a job they
accomplished with amazing grace and skill.
Presenting the Leadership Award for FHC-Detroit to MAR was
Dr. E'toile Libbett, a real estate sales associate with the Real Estate
One and an FHC-Detroit Board member. Attorney John Obee, a
Partner in the law firm of Wood Kull Herschfus Obee and Kull and
an FHC-Detroit Board member, made the presentation to Mr. Waquad
and FHC-Detroit Executive Director, Cliff Schrupp, had the honor of
making the presentation to Mr. Martin.
The unique and courageous actions of Mr. Bob Beale, President
of Premier Management Company, a rental management company,
have previously been noted in this newsletter (FH News, Vol. 27 #1;
Vol. 28 #1; Vol. 29 #1 and #2) but without public identification of
Mr. Beale. The settlement of the subsequent lawsuit (in August,
2007) provided the opportunity to publicly recognize and thank Mr.
Beale for his action. Specifically, in January 2004 Mr. Beale called
FHC-Detroit reporting that in December 2003, after less than 30 days
into the contract, Premier Management had just terminated its
management agreement with Elliott Schubiner and General Properties,
the owners of Whispering Woods Apartments in Livonia, Michigan,
because of racially discriminatory practices by Mr. Schubiner.
Mr. Beale asked if FHC-Detroit could investigate his complaint
to see if there was evidence to support his allegation. The subsequent
testing investigation by FHC-Detroit provided convincing supporting
evidence that led to the federal racial discrimination lawsuit: FHC v
General Properties. As noted by Attorney Saul A. Green, who
presented the Fair Housing Leadership Award to Mr. Beale for FHCDetroit, other rental management companies had also found Mr.
Schubiner's negative policies and practices in relation to African
American applicants to be offensive and probably unlawful, including
several that came forward to assist FHC-Detroit during the litigation,
but it was Mr. Beale who first came forward and presented that
evidence to FHC.
Finally, as has become the practice of FHC since the death in
2004 of FHC's longtime Coordinator of Testing and Investigations,
Marvin Thomas, FHC included the presentation of the Marvin Thomas
Service Award during the Fair Housing Leadership Awards Reception.
This year's recipient of the Marvin Thomas Service Award was Karen
Johnson Moore, a retired FHC Detroit tester who also headed the
Detroit area portion of a 1989 U.s. Department of Housing and Urban
Development funded national fair housing testing project and assisted
(continued on page 4)
Photos From Awards Reception
Michigan
Director,
Marvin
Recipient,
Department of Civil Rights
Attorney linda Parker, with
Thomas
Service
Award
Karen Johnson Moore (l-r).
Fair Housing
leadership
Recipient, Furhad Waquad.
Award
Fair Housing
leadership
Award
Recipient, Bob Beale, with Attorney
Saul A. Green (l-r).
Fair Housing
leadership
Recipient, Bill Martin.
Award
FHC-Detroit Board member, Dr. E'toile
l.ibbett, a Real Estate One Sales
Associate, with Genny Conrad, Senior
Vice President at Real Estate One (l-r),
FHC-Detroit staff member, Darlene
Taylor, with her daughter, Karanina
and Erin Graham (l-r).
James and Cindy Pierson with FHC
staff member
Albert Young and
Kelley Boddie (l-r).
NEW OFFICE - ADDRESS CHANGE
FOR FHC-DETROIT
On September 26,2007 FHC-Detroit moved its office from the
Book Tower Building to the Michigan Building. Both locations are in
downtown Detroit about 2 blocks from each other. FHC-Detroit was
located in the Book Tower Building since 1989 - approximately 18
years. The FHC-Detroit staff is extremely pleased with its new office
location on the 10th floor of the Michigan Building and welcomes
visitors who would like a tour of the office, or who would like to
volunteer (like becoming an FHC-Detroit fair housing tester) or who
may have complaints of unlawful housing discrimination for FHCDetroit to investigate. Please make the following changes to the FHCDetroit address - the FHC-Detroit phone numbers and E-mail addressr-'\
remain the same:
Fair Housing Center of Metropolitan Detroit
Room 1020, 220 Bagley
Detroit, Michigan 48226-1426
P-hone: 313-963-1274
FAX: 313-963-4817
E-mail: [email protected]
Page 3
Fair Housing News
Photos From FHC-Detroit's
31 st Annual Meeting
FHC-Detroit Board Chairperson,
Attorney Noel J. Saleh, presenting a
Certificate
of Appreciation
in
recognition of the services provided
by Donald Davis, Chairperson ofthe
First Independence
Bank, as an
Honorary Co-Chairperson for FHCDetroit's 2007 Membership/Contribution Drive.
Flagstar Bank Vice President and
CRA Officer, Jack Schwab, accepts a
Certificate of Appreciation presented
to Flagstar Bank President and CEO,
Mark T. Hammond, for his service as
an Honorary Co-Chairperson
of
FHC-Detroit's 2007 Membership/
Contribution Drive.
FHC-Detroit Board member Terry
Ward.
Some of the FHC-Detroit members and friends who attended the 31 st
Annual Meeting.
FHC-Detroit To Assist In Organizing A Fair
Housing Center In The Lansing
Metropolitan Area
The City of Lansing, Michigan has selected FHC-Detroit to
assist in organizing a private, non-profit fair housing organization for
the metropolitan Lansing area. Under the leadership of Dorothy
Byington Boone, Development Manager for the Development Office
of the Planning and Development Department, the City of Lansing
has recognized the need for testing under the auspices of a private
fair housing organization and is taking steps to meet that need. The
program calls for FHC-Detroit, between December 1,2007 and June
30, 2008 to secure part-time staffing and establish a process for
receiving, investigating and helping to resolve complaints of unlawful
housing discrimination involving properties in Lansing, and, at the
same time, to establish a Lansing metropolitan area non-profit organization that will continue to develop and guide the fair housing
program after June 30, 2008. Personsinterested in serving as volunteer
testers, Cooperating Attorneys or Board members of the new center
should contact Cliff Schrupp at FHC-Detroit (313) 963-1274 or via
E-mail [email protected].
Public/Private
Partnership, continued
(continued from page 7)
plaintiff, initially relying on the testing evidence provided by FHCDetroit. However, once in the case (in 2006) Attorney Levy and her
staff were able to help identify additional persons who had applied
or inquired at Whispering Woods but were not approved for
occupancy and helped to gather other useful evidence, like the very
substantial monetary value of the assets of Mr. Schubiner.
The combined efforts of the Miller Canfield attorneys and the U.S.
Department of Justice attorneys, especially attorneys Joseph Gaeta and
Timothy Moran, along with the able assistance of a Facilitator, retired
Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Pamela Harwood, led to a
Consent Decree that was signed and entered on August 29,2007 by
Judge Rosen. Besides the normal requirements in such settlements to
not unlawfully discriminate and to train employees on fair housing
laws, the agreement calls for Mr. Schubiner to relinquish his management of the complex, hire an independent rental management
company and pay the plaintiffs a combined total of $725,000. The
payment included: $45,000 as a civil penalty payable to the U.S.;
$330,000 to the 21 persons who alleged that they had been unlawfully
denied housing at Whispering Woods because of race; and $350,000
to FHC-Detroit for its costs and attorney fees. The Consent Decree
maintains Court jurisdiction over the matter for a period of five years,
with the potential for additional penalties if either side violates any
of the provisions of the Decree. Another example of the publ ic/private
partnership at work.
Special THANKS goes to officials from Village Green Companies,
The Fourmidable Group and Full House Marketing who came
forward with additional information supporting the claims of racial
discrimination made by FHC-Detroit. The names of the 14 FHCDetroit testerswho conducted the tests at Whispering Woods and were
deposed by the attorneys for the defendants remain unidentified, but
their contributions to this case warrant the appreciation and praise
of all supporters of fair housing. The outstanding work by Attorney
Green and the Miller Canfield firm, and by Attorney Levy and the U.S.
Department of Justice, was responsible for the record setting $725,000
award, including the $350,000 to FHC-Detroit, an award amount that
did not include sufficient resources to adequately compensate Miller
Canfield for its extraordinary services to FHC-Detroit. Like most
settlements of lawsuits, compromises were needed from both sides
to arrive at an agreement that was not fully satisfying to either side.
The defendants were able to include the standard "denial" that they
had violated any fair housing laws, but were not successful in
keeping the settlement amount ($725,000) from being publicly
disclosed. The plaintiffs felt the seriousness of the violations warranted
a significantly higher financial recovery, but were able to obtain an
agreement that an independent management company, not Mr.
Schubiner or any family member, "shall be responsible for all aspects
of the rental process". FHC-Detroit is hopeful, but not at all optimistic,
that the defendant will abide by the terms of the Decree. FHC-Detroit
welcomes any information
it may receive, from any source,
concerning the fair housing practices of Elliott Schubiner, General
Properties Company or Apple Ridge Apartments.
Save The Date:
April 3, 2008 For Wayne State Law School
Conference On Fair Housing
The Wayne State University Law School, for nearly fifteen years,
has sponsored a wide variety of fair housing seminars and conferences.
Coordinated by Retired WSU Law School Professor Otto Hetzel and
current WSU Law School Professor, John Mogk, the series has
benefitted, in recent years, from the active involvement ofWSU Law
School Dean, Frank Wu. This year's conference, scheduled for
Thursday, April 3, 2008 at the WSU Law School, will focus on the
use of testing and testing evidence in the investigation, litigation and
resolution of complaints of unlawful housing discrimination. The one
day conference is being designed to be of use and value for attorneys
(both plaintiff and defense) who are interested in housing discrimination litigation; representatives from local state and federal fair
housing enforcement administrative agencies; and representatives from
other private, non-profit fair housing organizations in Michigan and
throughout the U.S. FfjC-Detroit is assisting in developing the
Conference. Please save the date on your schedule. More information
will be available in the next issue of FHC-Detroit's Fair Housing News.
Page 4
Fair Housing News
Awards Reception, continued
(continued from page 2)
FHC-Detroit on several other fair housing projects. Whether serving~
as a tester, coordinating a testing project, or using her research and
management skills, Ms. Moore has faithfully served the cause of fair
housing in the spirit of Marvin Thomas. Ms. Moore is currently the
Director of Unity Temple's Holistic Community Development Center.
Wayne State Law School Professor
John Mogk.
University of Michigan Law School
Professors Judith Levy and Saul A.
Green with University of Kentucky
Law School Professor Robert
Schwemm (center).
Law Professors Mogk, Green and Levy
Open Classroom Doors to FHC
The FHC-Detroit Board and staff extend their special thanks to
the following major sponsors of the Tenth Awards Reception:
Silver Sponsors
Comerica Charitable Foundation
LaSalle Bank
Bronze Sponsors
For the past several years Wayne State University Law Professor
John Mogk and University of Michigan Law Professors, Saul A.
Green and Judith Levy have opened their classroom doors to presentations on fair housing issuesby staff from FHC-Detroit. Since 1995,
when now-retired Wayne State Law Professor Otto Hetzel and
Professor Mogk first invited FHC-Detroit staff to address their fair
housing class, ProfessorMogk has very generously invited FHC-Detroit
staff to conduct two sessions of his Urban Law and Planning class.
ProfessorsGreen and Levy, who have been conducting a Fair Housing
Seminar for law students at the University of Michigan since 2004,
have regularly involved FHC-Detroit staff in presentations and
discussions with students from their classes. The sessions not only
provide FHC-Detroit staff with an opportunity to share their 30+ years
of housing discrimination investigation experience, including the
results of 395 FHC-Detroit assisted lawsuits, with the law students,
but the class sessions also provide an opportunity to recruit law
students to serve as FHC-Detroit testers and to plant the seeds for the
students to become Cooperating Attorneys with FHC-Detroit after they
become attorneys.
Participating in the sessionshave been: FHC-Detroit's Coordinator
of Legal Services, Michael Olshan, J.D.; FHC-Detroit's Coordinator
of Investigation and Testing, AlbertYoung; former FHC-Detroit Tester
and testing coordinator, Attorney Laura Graham; FHC-Detroit
Executive Director, Cliff Schrupp; and Pamela Kisch, the Executive
Director of the Fair Housing Center of S.E. Michigan. Several of the
other guest speakers at the most recent U of M class sessions are well
known in national fair housing circles, including: University of
Kentucky Law Professor Robert Schwemm, author of Housing Discrimination: Law and Litigation; Steven Rosenbaum, Chief of the Fair
Housing Section for the U.S. Department of Justice; and Victoria A.
Roberts, Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan and a recent recipient of the 2007 Membership Service
Award from the Wolverine Bar Association.
Fair Housing Center of
Metropolitan Detroit
ACCESS
Flagstar Bank
Fourmidable
Huntington Bank
Lautrec, Ltd.
Metropolitan Consolidated Association of Realtors
Michigan Association of Realtors
Michigan State Housing Development Authority
National City Bank
Village Green Management Company
Western Wayne Oakland County Association of Realtors
Wood Kull Herschfus Obee & Kull
Patron Sponsors
AAA of Michigan
Century 21 Town and Country
Down River Association of Realtors
Franklin Bank
Green Hill Apartments
Group Five Management Co.
Hannett, Wilson & Whitehouse
Independent Management Services
LR Management Services Group
McDonald Management
Midwest Management, L.L.C.
New Detroit, Ine.
Pearl Insurance
Presbyterian Villages of Michigan'
River Bend Apartments
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
PAID
1249 WASHINGTON BLVD STE 1312
DETROIT, MICHIGAN 48226-1860
Detroit, MI
Permit No. 1341
Return Service Requested
e~33
.~
-