MANHATTAN, NY – A co-op in Gramercy Park has agreed to pay $165,000 to a tenant who was denied permission to live with her emotional support animals, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced on Friday.
The tenant claimed that The Rutherford at 230 East 15th St. discriminated against her by not accommodating her disability-related need to live with her parrots. The tenant also alleged retaliation after filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
βThis is the largest recovery the Department of Justice has ever obtained for a person with disabilities whose housing provider denied them their right to have an assistance animal,β U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said. βThis outcome should prompt all housing providers to consider carefully whether their policies and procedures comply with federal law. We greatly appreciate our partners at HUD who provided invaluable assistance in the investigation and resolution of this matter.β
According to court documents, the tenant, who had been a resident since the late 1990s, kept parrots without incident until 2015. A neighbor complained about alleged noise and called the Department of Environment Protection to investigate 15 times. The DEP issued zero violations, and the co-op retained no record of decibel testing or soundproofing services, according to court documents.
In March 2016, the tenant asked The Rutherford permission to keep her parrots as support animals under the FHA, which states reasonable accommodations must be provided for equal housing opportunities for people with disabilities. The co-op started eviction proceedings.
The tenant suffered emotional harm during the eviction, according to court documents, and left her apartment in July 2016. The co-op continued with eviction proceedings until 2024, even after the tenant moved out, according to court documents.
In May 2018, the tenant filed a complaint with HUD, stating the eviction proceedings violated her fair housing rights. During the HUD investigation, the tenant obtained an offer to buy the unit for $467,500, which The Rutherford rejected. This rejection prolonged the dispute and was seen as retaliation by the government, according to court documents.
In January 2021, the HUD investigation found probable cause to believe the co-op had violated the FHA. The Rutherford proceeded to take the case to federal court.
Under an agreement approved by a federal judge, The Rutherford must:
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