Black couple goes to view NYC apartment, but a racist text from the estate agent has them heading to court
The estate agent allegedly meant to text the landlord
A Black couple from Queens are reportedly taking a real estate agent to court for racial discrimination after allegedly receiving a text that wasn’t for them but was apparently about them. According to the lawsuit, the couple was viewing a property in the Flushing neighborhood in NYC when they received a text from the broker that said: “Ugh, they are Black.”
According to Gothamist.com, the lawsuit was filed in state court earlier this week by Lisa Renee Olaso and Cyril Christopher. The pair had been scheduled to view a three-bedroom unit on 26th Avenue in June. However, according to the lawsuit, upon their arrival, they received a racist text message from their broker, Helen Tzelios.
Olaso said that the message had been intended for the landlord, but Tzelios, who worked for the real estate firm Douglas Elliman Realty, allegedly sent it to the couple instead, according to NBC New York. Kenneth Mollins, the couple’s lawyer, said that Tzelios had never met the couple before the viewing.
When questioned by Olaso and Christopher, Tzelios allegedly claimed that the message was referring to other Black people in the neighborhood who had apparently caused problems before.
The couple said they felt ‘upset and humiliated’
Olaso claimed that she initially thought she had misread the text before realizing it was what she thought. “You saw exactly what you saw. You got a text that was meant to go to someone else.”
Speaking to Gothamist, the couple said the text message left them feeling “upset and humiliated,” and after confronting the broker, the couple decided not to go through with the viewing.
The lawsuit, which lists Douglas Elliman Realty as the defendant, reportedly states that the text violated the federal Fair Housing Act, which, as per justice.gov, aims to prohibit racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.
Every seller and landlord must comply with the Fair Housing Act, and if Olaso and Christopher can prove that Douglas Elliman Realty committed a violation, then the estate agent could face a civil penalty. According to belonghome.com, penalties can cost $24,793 for a first offense, $61,982 for a second, and can go as high as $123,965.
NBC New York reported that a spokesperson for Douglas Elliman has since stated that the agent who allegedly sent the text is no longer with the company, adding that the firm “has a zero-tolerance policy for discrimination of any kind.”
Mollins claimed that the couple isn’t filing a lawsuit for money. Olaso told the outlet that she was filing the suit to show how racism still exists today. “The reason why many of us have the opportunities that we have is because people before us fought. They fought for change. They fought for opportunity. They walked. Some of them sacrificed their lives for us,” she said.
Olaso admitted that she didn’t think it would be easy, adding, “I feel like it wasn’t easy for people back in the day, but sometimes we have to stand for change.”
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