{"slug":"trump-racial-housing-discrimination-doj-1973","title":"DOJ Housing Discrimination Suit: Trump Refused to Rent to Black Applicants","date":"1973-10-15","lastUpdated":"1975-06-10","description":"In 1973, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil rights lawsuit against Trump Management Corporation and Donald Trump personally, alleging that the company systematically refused to rent apartments to Black and other minority applicants at 39 properties across New York City and Brooklyn. The suit alleged that building superintendents instructed to tell Black applicants apartments were unavailable, while white applicants were offered the same units. Trump fought the case aggressively, hired Roy Cohn as his attorney, filed a $100 million countersuit, and ultimately settled in 1975 with a consent decree but without admitting wrongdoing.","summary":"The DOJ complaint documented specific evidence including testers — white and Black individuals sent to inquire about the same apartments — where Black applicants were told there were no vacancies while white applicants were offered leases for the same units. An employee named Elyse Goldweber documented that a Trump employee had marked rental applications with the letter 'C' (for 'colored') to identify minority applicants. Trump's response was to hire Roy Cohn, file a $100 million countersuit against the DOJ (which was dismissed), and ultimately settle via consent decree in 1975. The consent decree required Trump Management to place ads in minority newspapers and to notify the Urban League of vacancies; Trump violated the decree within two years and a second agreement had to be negotiated.","category":"civil-rights","severity":"major","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/29/us/politics/donald-trump-race.html","title":"The Trumps Were Accused of Racism in 1973 Case","publisher":"The New York Times"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/a-1973-lawsuit-against-the-trump-management-corporation-and-its-settlement/2016/09/28/76bb4cd2-853e-11e6-92c2-14b64f3d453f_story.html","title":"The story of a 1973 lawsuit about racial discrimination against Trump's company","publisher":"The Washington Post"},{"url":"https://apnews.com/article/trump-housing-discrimination-lawsuit-1973","title":"Trump once faced DOJ discrimination suit before settling","publisher":"The Associated Press"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["housing-discrimination","racism","DOJ","pre-presidency","civil-rights","Fred-Trump","Roy-Cohn"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"1973-10-15","title":"DOJ files housing discrimination complaint","summary":"The U.S. Department of Justice files a civil rights complaint against Trump Management Corporation and Donald Trump personally, alleging systematic racial discrimination in rental practices across 39 properties."},{"date":"1973-11-01","title":"Trump hires Roy Cohn; files $100M countersuit","summary":"Trump hires attorney Roy Cohn and files a $100 million countersuit against the DOJ alleging the case is discriminatory and politically motivated. The countersuit is later dismissed."},{"date":"1975-06-10","title":"Consent decree — no admission of wrongdoing","summary":"Trump Management settles via consent decree requiring advertisements in minority newspapers and Urban League notifications. Trump admits no wrongdoing. The DOJ declares it 'one of the most far-reaching agreements ever reached.'"},{"date":"1978-06-01","title":"Second agreement after consent decree violations","summary":"The DOJ finds Trump Management in violation of the 1975 consent decree within two years. A second agreement is negotiated, expanding the obligations."}],"location":{"name":"New York, NY","lat":40.7128,"lng":-74.006},"custom":{"era":"pre-presidency","posture":"judicial-finding","warCrimeClassification":"enabling","internationalLaw":[{"statute":"International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination","article":"Article 5(e)(iii)","provision":"Right to housing — systematic exclusion of racial minorities from housing through discriminatory rental practices violates ICERD Article 5(e)(iii)"}],"iccRelevance":false,"victims":"Black and minority applicants systematically denied housing at 39 Trump-managed properties in New York City and Brooklyn","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Donald Trump","role":"Named defendant; president of Trump Management Corporation during the period covered by the lawsuit","institution":"Trump Management Corporation"},{"name":"Fred Trump","role":"Founder and primary shareholder of Trump Management Corporation; named defendant","institution":"Trump Management Corporation"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2016-09-29","summary":"Documented from reporting during 2016 presidential campaign."}]}}