2 Henrico apartment complexes sued after allegedly refusing vouchers

Two Henrico County apartment complexes are among 29 in the Richmond region facing lawsuits that allege they broke state law by telling potential tenants that they could not pay rent with government vouchers.

The lawsuits, filed by Attorney General Mark Herring Monday, each seek:

• $70,000 from the real estate companies that own the complexes (Copper Spring Apartment Homes and The Champions Club Apartments, both in the West End);
• a “reasonable period of monitoring” of each complex by the attorney general’s office to ensure compliance in the future;
• and “any additional orders or decrees as may be necessary to fully compensate any prospective tenants” who also may have been victims of the complexes alleged discriminatory actions.

The suits stem from the efforts of Housing Rights Initiative, a national housing watchdog group that regularly contacts landlords to test their housing practices.

According to one of Herring’s lawsuits, an HRI representative posing as a potential tenant contacted Copper Spring Apartment Homes (located at 3301 Copper Mill Trace, just off Mayland Drive) July 20 and inquired about renting an available apartment using a government voucher.

“No, sorry, we do not take part in the Section 8 program at the moment,” a leasing official named Joseph told the person, according to the suit.

The HRI official responded, “Oh, you don’t take Section 8 at all?”

“No,” Joseph allegedly said.

Such a policy would be against state law, since the General Assembly passed a measure that took effect July 1, 2020 making it illegal for landlords to discriminate against tenants on the basis of their source of funds.

People who qualify for a Housing Choice Voucher (the successor to the Section 8 Rental Voucher Program, though many still refer to it as the latter) receive subsidies that are designed to help them afford private-market rental options. The program aims to help low-income residents – about 47,100 of them in total in Virginia – break the cycle of living in public housing.

Prior to last year’s new state law taking effect, tenants were able to participate in the voucher program voluntarily but weren’t required to do so.

The lawsuit filed against The Champions Club Apartments (located a 4200 Harwin Place in Glen Allen, just north of West Broad Street off Gaskins Road) alleged that an HRI officials spoke with a leasing agent on site Aug. 2, asked about using a voucher and was told “You have to make three times the rent in order to qualify” to live at the complex – even with a voucher, Herring’s suit alleged. “I don’t think we take Section 8 at this property,” the agent allegedly told the HRI official, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuits allege that by denying prospective tenants the right to use vouchers, the apartment complexes were in clear violation of the law.

“The Defendants’ conduct was intentional, willful, and taken in disregard of the fair housing rights of others,” Herring’s office claimed in both lawsuits.

Each suit seeks $5,000 in compensatory damages to the state on behalf of HRI; $15,000 in punitive damages to the state on behalf of HRI; and $50,000 in civil penalties to the state.

The suit against Copper Spring Apartment Homes names Copper Springs Property, LP and Bell Partners, Inc., both of Virginia, as defendants. The suite against The Champion Club Apartments names MDO Champions, LLC of Mechanicsville and CORE Realty Holdings Management, Inc., of Glen Allen, as defendants.

Both lawsuits seek trials by jury.