After waiting nearly seven years to reach the top of a waiting list for federal housing assistance, Abod Mohamed was thrilled he'd finally be able to move his wife and four children out of their cramped apartment. He found his dream home--a three-bedroom condominium in Arlington--signed a lease and started packing.
But when Mohamed arrived to pick up the keys on April 19, 1999, he was told his family couldn't move in after all because the Carlyle House owners association allows no more than four residents in a three-bedroom condominium.
"It's a big apartment, big enough for 10 people," Mohamed, 44, said. "We were ready to rent the car to move. They hurt me and my children."
With the backing of a District-based civil rights group called the Equal Rights Center, Mohamed filed a federal lawsuit last week contending that the policy discriminates against families with children. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, asks that the court award unspecified damages and order the Carlyle House Unit Owners Association to change its long-standing occupancy rules.
But Randell Ogg, an attorney for the association, said the restrictions are needed to avoid crowding in common areas such as the swimming pool and to ensure adequate services can be delivered to residents of the 136-unit building on Columbia Pike.
"We're going to fight this," Ogg said. The restrictions "are lawful and they are necessary when you have a building that's built for small occupancy. We can't make the building any larger than it is."
In the decade since families with children were added to the groups protected under the 1988 Fair Housing Act, housing advocates say there has been a steady stream of complaints from people who say landlords have turned them away because of their children. A spokesman at the Equal Rights Center, an umbrella organization that includes the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington, said 15 families sought help from the group in 1999, alleging that they had been unfairly denied housing because of occupancy limits or restrictions that limit access for children.
Although federal housing law allows landlords to limit the number of residents in a given unit based on its size and other factors, it also requires that the restrictions be reasonable, legal experts said. The Department of Housing and Urban Development suggests two people per bedroom as a guideline. David Berenbaum, executive director of the Equal Rights Center, said he believes the Carlyle House association's refusal to allow Mohamed's family to move in was a clear violation of federal and state law.
"It amazes me that we still see some of this blatant denial," Berenbaum said. "The reason we are taking this case to court is to send a strong message that the community will not tolerate cases of discrimination against people with children."
Mohamed, who works for a Bethesda limousine company, said that his family is too large for the two-bedroom apartment it has lived in since August 1998 but that he can't afford a bigger space on his salary. His four children--ages 4 to 14--sleep in a room that can barely fit three twin beds, and his two daughters bunk together. The family shares one bathroom, and there is little room for the children to play.
In December 1998, he reached the top of a Section 8 waiting list and was given 120 days to find housing with a landlord that would accept his federal assistance voucher.
After months of searching, Mohamed said, he learned through a relative that a Carlyle House condominium owned by the United Arab Emigrates Embassy was available for rent and that the embassy would accept his Section 8 voucher.
Mohamed said his wife, Naema, was elated when she visited the 1,680-square-foot condominium and saw its living room, dining room, kitchen, three balconies and walk-in closet. "She told me we were lucky it's so big," he said.
According to the lawsuit, Mohamed signed a lease with embassy officials, gave them a $1,100 security deposit and learned from housing officials that he would receive $443 in assistance each month, reducing his rent to $657. Once officials from the Department of Housing and Urban Development inspected the apartment, Mohamed and his wife started packing to move.
But when Mohamed tried to pick up the keys, the manager examined the lease and said the family would violate association rules and couldn't move in.
Ogg, the Carlyle House attorney, said the association created the occupancy restrictions about 20 years ago so the trash and sewer systems wouldn't be overtaxed and the common areas wouldn't be crowded. After Mohamed's family complained, the association considered changing the policy but decided it was necessary, Ogg said.
"People have to be able to make reasonable judgments," Ogg said. "The Carlyle House is a group of families themselves."
