Renton apartment complex agrees to pay $110,000 in discrimination case

The owners of a Renton apartment complex have agreed to pay $110,000 in damages to settle a lawsuit alleging the owners had discriminated against tenants and prospective tenants, according to the Justice Department.

The agency said the owners of Summerhill Place Apartments, a 268-apartment complex, discriminated against African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Indian Americans and families with children.

The settlement must be approved by the U.S. District Court.

The lawsuit, filed last July, alleged that the Summerhill owners steered Indian American tenants away from the complex and discouraged African Americans, Hispanics and families with children from living there.

"Working families already face enough challenges finding affordable housing," said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the civil-rights division. "Unlawful discrimination because of their race, their national origin or because they have children should not be one of them."

Under the agreement, the owners must pay $85,000 to tenants and prospective tenants who were harmed by the discriminatory practice; $25,000 as a penalty and develop a nondiscrimination policy at the apartment complex.

Information in this article, originally published March 8, 2011, was corrected March 9, 2011. A previous version of this story said that Native Americans were victims of discrimination as tenants or prospective tenants at a Renton apartment complex. The story should have said Indian Americans, individuals whose families are from India.