How Do I File a Housing Discrimination Complaint in NYC?

Searching for housing in NYC can be difficult enough without having to worry that someone is going to treat you unfairly. If you think that someone discriminated against you while you were looking for housing or while you were renting a place, you should file a housing discrimination complaint. A New York City tenants’ rights lawyer can help you with this.

When Should I File a Housing Discrimination Complaint?

Housing discrimination can rear its ugly head in all sorts of ways. You should file a housing discrimination case if you suspect that you are being treated differently due to a characteristic like your race, religion, or disability.

This can happen when you are looking for housing, like encountering a broker who doesn’t want to show you a certain property or one who tries to guide you toward a neighborhood where you’ll be “more comfortable.” You could also end up dealing with a discriminatory landlord who harasses you, won’t perform repairs, or tries to unlawfully evict you.

How Do I File a Housing Discrimination Complaint?

If you want to file a housing discrimination complaint, it needs to be done within one year of the last alleged act of discrimination. You should:

Document everything: Keep track of all of the details relevant to the discrimination you have experienced. If you have texts or e-mails that you want to use as evidence, make sure that you have multiple copies of them so that you are ready to back up your assertions.

Contact the NYC Commission on Human Rights: Call (718) 722-3131 or dial 311 to ask for the NYC Commission on human rights.

Make arrangements to meet at the Commission’s offices: They are located at 22 Reade Street in Lower Manhattan. If you cannot visit the office in person, other arrangements can be made.

Show up for your meeting: You need your photo ID to get into the meeting. Then you can tell the staff attorney all of the details. We recommend having information like the names and contact information of the people or entities you are charging with discrimination. Keep track of the dates of any discriminatory activity and be ready to present that with any evidence you have.

Continue to document any discriminatory actions, including retaliatory behavior by your landlord. This can help with your case.

Do I Need a Lawyer’s Help?

A lawyer can help you if you want to file a housing discrimination complaint. Even if you do not need professional assistance to file your complaint, an attorney can be helpful if you end up having to go to Housing Court. This is how many discrimination claims end up getting handled. We can help you build a case and show how you were harmed by a defendant’s discriminatory behavior.

Contact Our Attorneys

If you want to learn more about how housing discrimination claims are handled, contact Robert Rosenblatt & Associates. We can schedule a consultation where our lawyers will take time to learn more about your experiences. If we think that we can help you make things right, we’ll be ready to work with you to hold any discriminatory parties accountable.