Valley Landlord Targeted in Crackdown on Racial Bias : Housing: Federal program in which investigators seek apartments leads to suit alleging discrimination against African-American renters. It is the first such action in the state.

A San Fernando Valley apartment complex Monday became the first in California to be targeted under a nationwide Justice Department program that randomly tests landlords for housing discrimination--in this case against African-Americans.

Federal prosecutors filed a civil suit seeking damages against the operator and owners of the Parthenia Terrace Apartments in North Hills, alleging that they engaged in discriminatory housing practices.

The lawsuit alleges that the manager, Yung-Chung Shen, and the complex owners, Ming Yuan Huang and Mei Ling Huang, imposed different terms and conditions on rentals in the complex depending on the race of would-be renters. Prospective black renters were told that units were not available for inspection or rental when in fact they were, the suit says.

The complaint seeks damages for people who may have been discriminated against in the past, a civil penalty of up to $50,000 for each defendant and an injunction against the operator and owners forbidding discrimination.

Monday’s suit follows similar Justice Department action in Detroit, where the first lawsuit spawned by the landlord testing program was filed last year. A record $350,000 settlement was negotiated in that case in June after the owners of two apartment complexes were accused of discriminating against blacks.

The Los Angeles suit is based on information from “testers” for the Justice Department and the Fair Housing Council of the San Fernando Valley. Pairs of whites and blacks posing as prospective tenants with matching characteristics and credentials inquired last year about renting apartments at the 80-unit complex in the 15100 block of Parthenia Street.

Federal officials said African-American testers were uniformly treated less favorably and offered less favorable rental terms than white testers. The lawsuit said this was done intentionally and willfully by the defendants.

The defendants could not be reached for comment Monday. A woman who answered a phone at the complex manager’s office said Shen was not available. When a reporter knocked on the manager’s door, no one answered.

The suit does not specify whether anyone other than the testers had been discriminated against at the complex, and therefore eligible for damages.

The Justice Department began random testing last year after Congress amended the Fair Housing Act in 1989 to authorize federal civil rights enforcers to seek civil penalties and monetary damages for victims of housing discrimination, instead of seeking only court injunctions to stop such practices.

“Random testing is a critical tool for identifying discrimination because sometimes discrimination is so subtle victims don’t know it’s happening to them,” James P. Turner, acting assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, said in a statement Monday. “If we only tested on the basis of complaints, we would not be able to truly attack a covert problem.”

Last year, the Justice Department filed a suit against a Sherman Oaks apartment complex for similar reasons. However, that case--which was settled in May with the owners agreeing to pay $100,000 in penalties--was instigated by the nonprofit Fair Housing Council and not part of the department’s nationwide testing program.

Federal officials declined to discuss the details or frequency of the testing at the Parthenia Terrace Apartments. Pat Espinoza, director of the Fair Housing Council, also declined to discuss the case.

Paul Hancock, chief of the housing and civil rights section of the Justice Department, said that in general the cases filed in Los Angeles and Detroit involved similar complaints.

“In some instances, there was an outright failure to rent on account of race,” Hancock said. “In other instances, white testers might be quoted a lower rent . . . or told of (move-in) specials.”

Hancock said the pairs of white and black testers who visited the North Hills complex were similarly matched along credit backgrounds, income and housing needs. Only their race was different, the suit alleges.

He refused to describe how the complex was selected as a target of the housing sting.

“We tested a number of housing providers in that area of the country,” he said. “Some because of prior complaints. In other cases, we did our own analysis” involving random selection of targets.

He declined to say if there had been a prior complaint about discrimination at Parthenia Terrace Apartments.

In reference to the possibility that other apartment owners and managers may be similarly sued, Hancock said: “We have other matters under review. Certainly we have done more testing than this location.”

At the Parthenia Terrace Apartments on Monday, a handful of white residents said they did not believe there was a discrimination problem at the complex. Most said there had been black tenants at the complex in the past, and at least one black tenant now.

“I know he (Shen) has rented to blacks in the past,” said Kathy Scurlock, a four-year resident.

Roy Schlosser, an eight-year resident, said he has often seen the manager showing prospective black tenants around the complex.

“I bet you I’ve seen 25 or 30 black people shown apartments,” he said. “There were some black guys living with white gals here, but they moved out.”

Another resident dismissed the federal allegations as “baloney . . . I’ve seen black residents here before. They are trying to make something out of nothing.”