Connecticut Landlords to Pay Damages for Discrimination

A federal judge has ordered two landlords to pay more than $100,000 for discriminating against prospective tenants on the basis of their race, federal prosecutors said Monday.

The judge found that the defendants refused to rent a home in Windsor Locks to a Hartford woman and her two young children because they are black.

Clifton Hylton, his wife, Merline Hylton, and their real estate company were ordered to pay compensatory and punitive damages.

The Hyltons are black and of Caribbean descent. According to the May ruling by Judge Janet Hall in New Haven, Clifton Hylton told a tenant looking to sublet the property that he should find “some good white people” who could afford the property because the black woman from the north end of Hartford probably would not to be able to keep up with the rent.

“Mr. Hylton also said that the neighbors would not want too many black people in the neighborhood,” the judge wrote.

The Hyltons did not immediately return a call seeking comment Monday.

The case began with a complaint to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center on behalf of the woman and her sons.

Besides the monetary damages, the judge ordered the defendants to complete three hours of fair housing training each year and post signs on their properties indicating they are available on a non-discriminatory basis.