United States v. Maria Trini Menendez (D.P.R.)

On July 3, 2025, the United States entered into a settlement agreement in United States v. Menendez, et al. (D.P.R.).  The “election” complaint , which was filed by the United States Attorney’s Office on June 6, 2022, alleges that the owners and managers of a four-unit apartment building in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the real estate agent retained to find tenants for the property discriminated on the basis of disability in violation of the Fair Housing Act by refusing to allow the complainants, one of whom is legally blind, to rent a unit because they had a guide dog.  Josefina Amparo De La Fuente-Mundo, Alicia De La Fuente-Mundo, and Rosalia De La Fuente-Mundo are also named as defendants in the complaint.  The settlement agreement requires the defendants to pay $12,000 in damages to the complainants, to attend fair housing training, to adopt a new reasonable accommodations policy, and to send reports to the United States for three years.  The case was referred to the Division after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) received a complaint, conducted an investigation, and issued a charge of discrimination.