Westchester firm to pay $105K to settle housing discrimination case

“Sorry, NO section 8.”

They were costly words for the Westchester County-based real estate and property management firm Platzner International Group, according to the state Attorney General’s Office.

PIG and owners Merrick Platzner and Harrin Platzner agreed to pay $105,000 in damages, waive broker fees for prospective tenants using housing subsidies for the next five years, and set aside 20 units for low-income tenants – to settle claims PIG unlawfully discriminated against applicants relying on Section 8 housing subsidies.

Among the proofs turned up against PIG, the attorney general’s office said of its investigation, were apartment listings by PIG entities that stated, “Sorry, NO section 8.” There also was a statement made to a representative of Housing Rights Initiative, which investigates source-of-income discrimination complaints, that “PIG ‘does not take Section 8 at one of their buildings.’”

“Every New Yorker, regardless of their income, deserves a place to live,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement announcing the agreement. “Denying housing opportunities to low-income New Yorkers simply because they have a housing voucher is not only illegal, it worsens our affordable housing crisis.”

Every New Yorker, regardless of their income, deserves a place to live.

Letitia James, New York attorney general

There was no immediate response from PIG, contacted by phone and email. The firm describes itself on its website as “one of New York's largest privately owned, non-franchised and non-partnership diluted company, offering a complete range of commercial, industrial and residential services.”

Low-income housing applicants in the metropolitan area routinely complain of being turned away by real estate agents and property managers after disclosing they rely on Section 8 vouchers or other government subsidies to pay rent. Discriminating against Section 8 voucher holders typically also means discriminating against applicants based on their race.

In New York City, more than 8 in 10 voucher holders are Black or Hispanic, and are “likely to have a disability,” according to a 2022 CUNY report. Nationwide, 48% of voucher-holders were Black, 32% were white, 17% were Hispanic and 2% were Asian, according to federal data.

Fair housing groups, acting on complaints and sometimes on their own initiative, typically send investigators posing as apartment seekers out to property managers and real estate firms and test how the “applicants” are treated, probing for any disparate treatment based on several factors, including race and source of lawful income.

In November 2021, the attorney general’s office said in the statement, launched an investigation into PIG based on undercover testing done by Housing Rights Initiative that revealed “PIG had an explicit policy of refusing to rent units to Section 8 voucher holders in certain buildings.”

The attorney general also found that PIG asked “illegal questions” to prospective tenants, including about their sex and marital status, in violation of both New York’s Human Rights Law and federal fair housing law. Additionally, the probe found that PIG claimed an application fee as high as $50, while state law caps the fee at $20.

PIG will pay $10,000 for Housing Rights Initiative’s damages and $95,000 in damages to Westchester Residential Opportunities, a local fair housing group that brought its own claim against PIG, according to the attorney general’s office. “In addition, the Platzners, their staff, and partners will have to undergo mandatory training on relevant federal, state, and local fair housing laws and be subject to random compliance testing.”

PIG and its related entities, according to James’ office, own more than 200 residential units across four multi-building complexes and are property managers for an additional 14 complexes primarily in Pelham Manor, New Rochelle and Rye.