U.S. Department
of Justice
United States v. Loecher (D. Colo.)
On August 8, 2016, the court entered a consent order in United States v. Loecher (D. Colo.), a HUD election/pattern or practice case. The complaint, filed on November 9, 2015, alleged that the owners and property manager of Westland Apartments (Westland), a two building, 28-unit apartment complex in Lakewood, Colorado, discriminated on the basis of familial status by implementing a policy of generally not allowing families with children to live in the front building of the complex, and generally restricting them to apartments in the rear building. This case was based on a HUD complaint filed by the Denver Metro Fair Housing Center (DMFHC), a non-profit organization that works to promote equal housing opportunities in the Denver metropolitan area. DMFHC sent testers posing as prospective renters to Westland which revealed that the property manager told prospective renters that families with children were generally placed in apartments in the rear building and did not offer prospective renters with children the opportunity to consider available apartments in the front building. DMFHC also filed a complaint against the defendants on December 22, 2015. The cases were consolidated on March 3, 2016. The consent order requires that the defendants pay $25,000 to establish a settlement fund to compensate aggrieved persons, $45,000 to DFMHC, and a $5,000 civil penalty as well as standard injunctive relief, fair housing training, adoption of a nondiscrimination policy, and reporting requirements. This case was handled jointly by the Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
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