“Unfortunately, no.” “No, I don’t think so.” “No, not really.” A simple “no.”
These were the replies prospective housing applicants received when they called real estate agents with a Westchester company and asked if they could use Section 8 housing vouchers to cover the rent for apartments marketed by the firm, according to a 38-page court settlement with the state attorney general’s office last month.
But state and county discrimination laws make it illegal to deny housing based on an applicant’s source of lawful income, and the callers were actually trained testers probing for compliance with those laws, the settlement reveals.
New York Attorney General Letitia James announced in a statement this week that Pasquale A. Marciano, doing business as New Rochelle-based Century 21 Marciano and other entities, had agreed to stop the unlawful practices, pay $40,000 to the state and submit to anti-discrimination training for all client-facing staff. Marciano also pledged to set aside nine apartments for tenants using government subsidies, for a term of five years.
The agreement was the latest in a string of housing discrimination settlements recently announced by James and came as Gov. Kathy Hochul and other political leaders push to expand affordable housing access, both in resistant suburbs and closed-off urban areas. The case also highlights how low-income renters advantaged with government subsidies face persistent roadblocks, including from noncompliant landlords and other real estate interests.
“Discrimination against low-income New Yorkers denied opportunities to those most in need of housing assistance,” James said. “This agreement will open up housing specifically for low-income New Yorkers and send a clear message that this kind of discrimination is unacceptable in our communities.”
A phone call and email to Marciano, listed in court papers as owner of the Century 21 franchise and affiliated with several other real estate entities, went…
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