The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has charged a Champlin rental company with housing discrimination
.
The agency says in a release that the Renter's Avenue and its owner, Page Edmunds, refused to rent to a family of four of Hmong decent.
He also attempted to charge them to have the lease translated, made discriminatory statements and retaliated against them for exercising their fair housing rights, according to the release from HUD.
The Fair Housing Act makes it unlawful to discriminate in the rental or sale of housing or to impose different rental terms and conditions based on national origin, race, color, religion, sex, family status or disability.
HUD says the family made a fair housing complaint after paying an $80 application fee to rent a three-bedroom townhouse in Champlin in March of 2014. The family includes a mother, adult son and two children.
After the family met all of the requirements for rental, Edmunds told the family they would have to pay $500 to translate the lease.
When the woman's son challenged Edmund's reason for denying their application as unlawful discrimination, Edmunds threatened to report the son, who holds a real estate license, to the Minnesota department that governs real-estate licensing.
The charge could be heard by a U.S. Administrative Law Judge. If the judge finds discrimination, they can order relief and payment of lawyer's fees. The judge can also levy fines.
A call to Edmunds has not been returned.
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