Secaucus landlord, rental agency told prospective tenant they refused must be compensated or they will face bias hearing

Tuesday, June 22, 2010
By RON ZEITLINGER
DEPUTY MANAGING EDITOR

A cancer survivor who owns a therapy dog says her rights were violated when a landlord refused to rent an apartment in Secaucus because of a "no-pets" rule, and now the state Division of Civil Rights is allowing the case to move forward.

The Division on Civil Rights announced yesterday it has issued a finding of probable cause against a Hudson County apartment building owner and a real estate agency that lists his rental units for allegedly refusing housing to a Khalill and Jackie Smart of Secaucus.

Khalill and Jackie Smart, a breast cancer patient also diagnosed as having post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of her illness and treatment, were denied when they sought to rent an apartment advertised in December, their complaint says.

Landlord Ray Saoud, who owns the nine-unit apartment building on Maple Street in Secaucus, and Peterson Real Estate, also of Secaucus, which handled the property, were named by the Attorney General's Office in the complaint.

The state says an agent of Peterson Real Estate showed Khalill Smart a one-bedroom apartment advertised by Saoud on Dec. 19. When Khalill Smart said that his wife required an emotional support dog prescribed to help her deal with her illness, the agent allegedly responded that the landlord might not be willing to rent to them because of the dog.

Subsequently, both Peterson Real Estate and Saoud allegedly failed to respond to follow-up telephone calls made by Khalill Smart, the state says.

The agency claimed that it passed along to Saoud documentation, provided by the Smarts, that the dog at issue was a medically prescribed service animal, the AG's office said.

Frank DeMaria, the owner/broker of Peterson, said yesterday that his company would have worked with the Smarts to find them an apartment and even alerted Saoud to the law, but that the Smarts chose to file the complaint.

Saoud, who admitted telling the real estate agent he would rent to the Smarts as long as they did not have a dog, denied ever receiving documentation about Jackie Smart's dog, the AG's office said.

The case will be referred for a process known as conciliation, a mediation where the two sides can come to an agreement on compensation for the complainant, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office said.

If conciliation is not successful, the matter will be referred to an administrative law judge for a hearing on the merits.

If found in violation of the law against discrimination, Saoud and Peterson Real Estate can be fined up to $10,000.