The settlement was approved on August 31, by the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.
The settlement agreement resolves a lawsuit alleging that the owners and operators of the park, located at 200 East Patrick Street in Marion, Illinois violated fair housing law. Testing revealed that Williams unlawfully discouraged families with children from living there, as well as allegations of racial discrimination. “In addition to Lyle Williams, the lawsuit also names as defendants the park’s other two owners, Kyle Williams and David Williams,” according to the DOJ release to MHProNews.
“It is both shocking and sad that in this day and age any person would try to discriminate against a fellow citizen on the basis of race,” said U.S. Attorney Stephen R. Wigginton of the Southern District of Illinois. “Neither the Department of Justice nor my office will tolerate such behavior. Opportunity and justice must remain equal for all.”
The consent decree for this case is found at this link, here.
Justice recently settled another case for over $250,000 – reported earlier this week at this link here. Attorney Anne Houghtaling, the Executive Director of Hope Fair Housing, has agreed to provide the Daily Business News with additional commentary on this case and others in the next few days. ##
(Editor’s Note: Manufactured housing professionals are encouraged to read a Fair Housing basics article, found at this link here, As case law is ever-evolving, it is also prudent to read the monthly Fair Housing article written by Fair Housing attorney Nadeen Green, a recent one on disparate impact is linked here.)
(Original image credits: SFGate, FlickrCreative Commons/Ari Karen; modified by MHProNews.)
