In an announcement on Monday, Feb. 5, James and her firm announced a deal between real estate broker Pasquale Marciano and his companies, Century 21 Marciano, Anthony Marciano Real Estate, and New Rock Property Management. announced that they had reached an agreement to cease real estate brokerage. They stopped the enforcement of illegal policies that denied housing opportunities to low-income renters.
According to James' office, the real estate agent Marciano oversees owns 13 multifamily rental properties in New Rochelle, each with 76 units, and offered apartments to investigators who claimed to take advantage of the Section 8 housing selection system. By refusing to lend, they would be violating local and state law. A slip for paying rent.
This was discovered as part of an investigation conducted by the Attorney General's Office and the Housing Rights Initiative. During the investigation, agents working with Century 21 Marciano told investigators that they refused to accept Section 8 vouchers because they “didn't want to receive them,” officials said.
This violates New York state law, which states that owners, landlords, property managers, rental agents, and brokers may not discriminate against potential renters because they receive housing subsidies. .
As part of the agreement with the attorney general's office, Marciano must place nine tenants in his unit who receive Section 8 or other government housing assistance. Additionally, he must pay $40,000 to the state and attend anti-discrimination training along with all of the company's customer-facing staff.
The agreement also requires Marciano to implement and distribute an anti-discrimination policy to all companies involved in rentals, to advertise the acceptance of government housing vouchers for all vacant units, and to ensure that rental application fees are set at a maximum. It is also required that the amount not exceed $20.
“Discrimination against low-income New Yorkers deprives those who need housing assistance the most,” James said of the agreement. “It will send a clear message that we need housing support for this species.” Discrimination cannot be tolerated in our community. ”
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