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The state Division on Civil Rights announced Thursday it has issued separate Findings of Probable Cause against apartment complex operators accused of housing discrimination in Burlington County and Essex County.

In both cases, the operators are charged with rejecting would-be tenants because of their familial status, a violation of the state Law Against Discrimination.

Named in one Finding is Davis Enterprises, manager of the Allison Apartments, a 536-unit complex located in Evesham, Burlington County.

Named in the other Finding is the RPM Development Group, a developer of affordable housing that owns approximately 1,300 apartments in 21 complexes throughout Essex County.

Both are accused of denying rentals to prospective tenants in 2009 because, they claimed, the applicants had too many children to qualify for the type of units they sought to rent.

"In both of these cases, the policies and alleged conduct are troubling," Civil Rights Director Chinh Q. Le said. "Rental policies that place restrictions on the number of individuals who can live in a particular apartment must not unreasonably limit or exclude housing opportunities for families with children."

In the Evesham case, Davis Enterprises is accused of unlawfully denying housing to Laurie and James Neary and their two children, ages 5 months and 18 months. The Nearys sought to rent a two-bedroom apartment at Allison in April 2009, but a manager there refused them, ostensibly because their family was too large.

As a matter of policy, the same manager told Civil Rights investigators, a maximum of only three people are permitted to occupy a two-bedroom apartment. However, the Finding notes that local and state housing codes do not count children under two as occupants.

Even if the children were counted as occupants, they still could share a bedroom based on the dimensions of the two-bedroom units at Allison, and the square-footage of "usable floor area" required by code, according to the Finding.

In the Essex County case, RPM Development is accused of unlawfully denying housing to Robert and Onyinyechi Ubaechu, whose five children range in age from 4 months to 8 years old. The Ubaechus applied for a four-bedroom apartment in August 2009 and were told none were available. The Ubaechus then applied for a three-bedroom apartment and were told their family was too large for such a unit.

However, investigators determined RPM had three-bedroom apartments available in Newark, at a complex known as Springfield Commons, that would have accommodated the Ubaechus family while also being in compliance with the city's occupancy standards.

RPM told investigators its practice of limiting occupancy to two people per bedroom is consistent with federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulations published in a 1998 HUD statement of policy on enforcement and occupancy standards. However, the Finding notes that the RPM complexes at issue are not owned or subsidized by HUD, and that the HUD statement offers guidelines for occupancy, not regulations. In addition, the statement makes clear that landlords must also consider the size of the bedrooms in question, as well as local occupancy restrictions.

The anti-discrimination law provides that each person or company found to have committed a violation is subject to a penalty of up to $10,000. The law also provides for other remedies, including compensatory damages and injunctive relief, such as changes in the employer's policies and management/staff training.

Now that the Civil Rights Division has issued Findings of Probable Cause, the Davis Enterprises and RPM Development cases will be referred for a process known as conciliation. If conciliation is not successful, the matters will be referred for non-jury trials before a state Administrative Law Judge. Once those trials are completed, the presiding Administrative Law judges will issue written initial decisions.

The cases were handled by Elizabeth Russian, manager of the Division on Civil Rights' Housing Investigations Unit, as well as Investigators Henry Hammond and Carlos Hernandez.

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM